Thursday, November 17 2022 22:01

ArmInfo.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev considers Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan a person sent from Moscow. He stated this today during a meeting with the European Union's special envoy for the Eastern Partnership Dirk Schuebelt.

He also noted that the issue of the Armenians of Karabakh will not be  included in the peace treaty with Armenia. He blamed outside forces  for hindering this process.

Dirk Schuebelt stated that the EU intends to actively develop  cooperation with Azerbaijan. The delegation is ready to discuss the  renewal and modernization of the Eastern Partnership.

"We know that in the current geopolitical situation, new ideas, new  incentives, special approaches are needed, and this is one of the  reasons why we are here," Schubelt said TURAN reports. He also  expressed the EU's interest in speeding up the signing of a new  agreement with Azerbaijan.  "We know that in the current geopolitical  situation, new ideas, new incentives, special approaches are needed,  and this is one of the reasons why we are here," Schubelt said. He  also expressed the EU's interest in speeding up the signing of a new  agreement with Azerbaijan. Informing about the trip to Yerevan,  Schubert said that Armenia is also interested in achieving peace.   Aliyev, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the level of  cooperation with the EU in the political, economic, energy,  humanitarian and other sectors. 

"As for the Eastern Partnership, Azerbaijan strongly supported it  from the very beginning of this program and actively participated in  various events," Aliyev said and agreed that the Eastern Partnership  needs to be modernized.

<More than ten years have passed since the formation of this program,  and the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership have made  their choice. Some signed the Association Agreement, others joined  the Eurasian Economic Union. Azerbaijan is the only country that has  not joined any of the formats>, Aliyev said, hinting that Baku does  not need either one or the other.  As for the signing of a bilateral  agreement with the European Union, it has been agreed upon by 90%.  "The process is slow, as there are issues that require political will  on both sides," Aliyev said, adding that Azerbaijan could not sign  agreements "that could cause economic difficulties in the medium or  long term." Touching upon the issue of the conflict, Aliyev  questioned the sincerity of Yerevan in the settlement of the  conflict. <We have heard such statements all these years, they were  not sincere. They wanted peace without returning "our" lands. So I  had to resolve the conflict by force".

<Today's talk of peace is a form of manipulation. If they really  wanted peace, they would have responded to our proposal>, Aliyev  said.  According to him, Armenia is trying to include in the peace  treaty issues relating, as he put it, to the "Armenian minority" in  Azerbaijan. "This will not happen, this is impossible, we will not  agree," Aliyev said.  Aliyev called for a consensus between  Azerbaijan, the European Union, the United States and Russia, that  is, between those countries and institutions "which Azerbaijan  considers capable of helping in this matter."