ArmInfo. The foreign policy of Armenia will continue in the same vein. Tigran Balayan, Press Secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, stated during a press conference on May 22.
According to him, there is a consensus on this issue in the society, and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that the course will be continued. Balayan also noted that there is nothing new in the statement about the need for direct participation of Artsakh in the negotiations, and this was repeatedly stressed from the Armenian side. "However, today the realities have changed, the Prime Minister spoke about this in different formats, and according to which the more active involvement of Artsakh in the negotiation process is expected," he added.
At the same time, Balayan stressed that Armenia's position on the Karabakh settlement has not changed. According to him, Armenia believes that the conflict should be settled exclusively by peaceful means, based on the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, as well as in the implementation of the agreements reached after the April aggression. According to him, this is the clear position of Armenia, which has been repeatedly confirmed at various levels.
Speaking about Artsakh's involvement in the conflict settlement, Balayan reminded that Artsakh is involved in the settlement process somehow, there is a lot of document fixing it. "The question is that Azerbaijan has rejected direct negotiations with Artsakh for years, I would like to remind you that the main result of the conflict settlement, the agreement on the ceasefire of 1994 was the result of direct contacts between Azerbaijan and Artsakh. The then President of Artsakh Robert Kocharyan met Azeri President Heydar Aliyev, there was direct correspondence and there is relevant documentation. Our task today is that the Azeri authorities, who since 2003 are negotiating on behalf of Azerbaijan, were clearly aware that only direct negotiations with Artsakh would allow us to reach a long-lasting peace, not so that we would refuse to negotiate. Yes, we as Armenia, and as a guarantor of the security of Artsakh, will continue to participate in the talks, while saying that Stepanakert's participation in the negotiations is an indispensable condition for achieving a clear peace," the representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
Speaking about the visit of the mediators to the region, the Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that the mediators expressed their desire to visit the region in June, to meet with the new Armenian authorities. "The timing is still being specified, as the schedule of the Foreign Minister is quite rich, but I believe that this meeting will still take place in June. At the moment, there is no agreement on the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan," Balayan said.