Thursday, October 3 2019 17:22

ArmInfo. The Armenian Foreign Ministry reacted to the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club regarding  Nagorno-Karabakh.

Thus, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia  Anna Naghdalyan, referring to Lavrov's remark that "Artsakh is part  of Armenia and that's final " statement does not contribute to  creating an atmosphere for restoring the political process for the  settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in particular, stressed  that Armenia was and remains a supporter of the OSCE Minsk Group  format, whose impartial and objective mediation of a peaceful  settlement is the key to maintaining the unity of the co- chairing  countries.

"At the same time, we consider it important that each of the  co-chairs avoids using selective and one-sided assessments. The  Armenian Foreign Ministry confirms its statement of August 6  regarding the issue voiced.  The position of the Armenian side is  clearly reflected in all statements of the Prime Minister of Armenia,  including in a speech from the rostrum UN General Assembly on  September 24 of this year, where the formula proposed by Armenia on  peace and mutual concessions was confirmed. In this regard, we  consider unacceptable the inability of Azerbaijan to speak out  publicly about the decision for a peaceful settlement that will be  acceptable to the people of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan ", MFA  Spokesperson said.

Naghdalyan stressed that Baku's unilateral statement on the outcome  of the negotiations that the issue should be resolved "exclusively  within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan" does  not contribute to the formation of an appropriate atmosphere for  advancing the peace process.

Touching on Lavrov's statement about the exchange of bodies, as well  as the preparation of the exchange of detainees, Naghdalyan said in  particular: "There was no exchange of bodies, as a humanitarian step  Artsakh allowed the Azerbaijani side to evacuate the body of its  soldier. We would also like to clearly state that Armenia does not  consider the issue of exchanging detainees on the territory of the  parties, but advocates consideration of each individual case within  the framework of humanitarian law, " the Armenian Foreign emphasized  Ministry.

To note, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, yesterday at the  Valdai club, referring to the Karabakh settlement, said that the  parties are making serious statements that do not help create an  atmosphere of the political process. According to him, there were  even such calls that Karabakh is part of Armenia. "Of course, this  doesn't contribute to the process. But we, as co-chairs, work in  unison with the Americans and the French, here, thank God, this is  probably one of the few situations where we have a completely unified  vision, we have basic documents - we don't want to audit them, we  want to find a solution based on these basic principles, which have  been discussed many times, but we need to find a solution, of course,  through a direct dialogue, "Lavrov said, adding that there are  contacts, but the dialogue on the settlement has not been resumed  yet.  He also added that recently the situation on the Line of  Contact is quite calm, there are few incidents and they are not very  large. "An exchange of bodies of the dead took place, an exchange of  detainees is being prepared - in small, very small steps, but,  nevertheless, some process is underway," Lavrov summed up.