Friday, May 19 2023 14:39

ArmInfo. At a meeting in Moscow, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan drew the attention of his  Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to the situation around the Lachin-Berdzor corridor.

"I am glad for another opportunity to talk once again about sore  topics, about the situation in the South Caucasus, to hold another  round of negotiations on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations," Mirzoyan said during his welcoming speech.

In this regard, he added that Armenia, as usual, participates in the  negotiations very constructively and is committed to long-term peace  in the region.

At the same time, he stressed that Armenia remains committed to the  tripartite statements of the leaders of the countries of November 9,  2020 and all subsequent ones. "Unfortunately, as they say "on the  ground", the situation is somewhat different: in parallel with the  negotiations, we periodically see an escalation of the situation on  the ground by Azerbaijan. We see an invasion of the sovereign  territory of the Republic of Armenia, we see a gross violation of the  same statement of November 9, the last such violation was recorded  when the Azerbaijani side tried to establish a checkpoint in the  Lachin corridor, although the statement of November 9 clearly defines  the regulations for the operation of this corridor, which must remain  under the control of the Russian Federation. But, unfortunately, we  cannot state now that the Russian Federation now controls the Lachin  corridor ",  said the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, adding  that, nevertheless, Yerevan will participate in the negotiations.

In turn, Lavrov stated that today it was possible to agree on a  trilateral meeting of foreign ministers and a meeting between  Mirzoyan and Bayramov.

"The Russian Federation provides its platform and will try to create  the necessary conditions for the further progress of your  negotiations on all the tasks formulated in the tripartite statements  of the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of  Armenia.

We appreciated the participation of Nikol Pashinyan in the events  dedicated to the anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic  War of the peoples of the Soviet Union, for his presence at the May 9  parade.  We hope that he will also be able to take part in the  session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. It will take place  on May 25 this year, in Moscow. It will be an important event," he  said.

At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Russia is interested in  continuing to push forward all the agreements between the leaders of  the two countries: first of all, trade and economic cooperation,  which has become a real locomotive of Russian-Armenian relations. He  suggested that the meeting will also touch upon issues of interaction  within the integration associations of the CSTO, the EAEU and the  CIS.

"The main topic of today's talks is the normalization of ties between  Armenia and Azerbaijan. The role of trilateral agreements (1,2,3,4),  which are signed by the leaders of the three countries, is very  significant. It should be of decisive importance in finding all  solutions on all issues: not only regarding the peace treaty, but  also regarding the unblocking of communications and delimitation with  the subsequent demarcation of the border.

I think that progress in all these areas is a key condition for  achieving sustainable peace in the South Caucasus. Russia plays a  historical role in this region and has serious interests. I am  convinced that our allies understand this.

We will strive to do everything possible in this context so that the  upcoming undertakings today are useful and achieve concrete results,"  he concluded.