Friday, January 19 2024 21:13

ArmInfo."Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue  challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region." Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated in a press statement during a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman in Zagreb.

Mirzoyan expressed the belief that Armenia's partners are interested  in stability in the South Caucasus and share the same approach, that  peace requires unwavering commitment and sincere interest in  long-term solutions. Armenia's position was very clear regarding  possible solutions based on generally known principles and  agreements. 

"We exchanged views on international and regional security topics. I  thoroughly updated my counterpart on the situation in the South  Caucasus. As mentioned, we had earlier opportunities to discuss  Armenia's vision of establishing stability and peace in the region,  efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges and developing regional  connectivity. Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the  high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue challenging the  rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and,  hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region.

We believe our partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus  share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment  and genuine interest in lasting solutions. Armenia's position has  been very clear on possible solutions based on well-known principles  and agreements. Countries should recognize each other's territorial  integrity without any ambiguity. The peace treaty should provide  clear foundations regarding the further delimitation process, which,  according to our belief, should take place in accordance with the  Alma-Ata Declaration and based on the freshest and legitimate Soviet  Union maps. We also are sure that the connectivity that can be  unlocked in the region, the economic and transport infrastructures  could also help to advance lasting peace in the region. We believe  that all the infrastructure should be unlocked according to and under  the sovereignty and national jurisdictions of the countries and in  accordance with the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Moreover, to promote this idea of peace and connectivity, the  Government of the Republic of Armenia came up with the initiative of  "Crossroads of Peace", which is, as I said, about unblocking the  infrastructure, increasing the interconnectivity in the region,"  Mirzoyan noted.

Answering a question from a journalist from the Croatian Public  Television, Mirzoyan noted: "As I said, Armenia is engaged in  negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith and we are more than  interested in establishing lasting peace in our region. We believe  that this will be beneficial not only for the people of Armenia, but  for the countries in the region. However, we see that our  constructiveness sometimes does not meet the same constructive  approach in the behaviour of our neighbours. We have been engaged in  negotiations by facilitation of the European Union, among other  facilitators, and nowadays we see that Azerbaijan, unfortunately,  refuses to resume the negotiations in the existing frameworks.  However, we are interested in continuing our negotiations. As I said,  we attach importance not so much to the issue of who facilitates the  negotiations, but to the principles, according to which the  negotiations should continue. And in this context I would like to  emphasize again that those are territorial integrity, recognition of  legitimate borders, inviolability of borders, respect for each  other's sovereignty. These are the principles, according to which, I  believe, peace should be agreed. When it comes to participation of  Croatia or the European Union in general, I would like to express our  appreciation that the EU and Croatia has shown in ensuring security  in our region along the borderline. I've already mentioned the EU's  Monitoring mission, but also I would like to express appreciation  that Croatia and other EU countries showed in the context of meeting  the urgent needs of the refugees who had to flee Nagorno-Karabakh as  a result of military operation several months ago in September 2023,"  Mirzoyan emphasized.