Friday, May 19 2023 15:57

ArmInfo.A trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia Ararat  Mirzoyan, Jeyhun Bayramov and Sergey Lavrov, respectively, is has started in Moscow.

Opening the meeting, Mirzoyan expressed gratitude to the Russian side  for organizing the next meeting on the normalization of  Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. At the same time, he pointed to the  progress recorded between the parties on some points of the draft  peace treaty, adding that a mutual understanding is being reached  between Yerevan and Baku on the process of unblocking communication  and border delimitation based on the Alma-Ata Agreement.

"Not only the Armenian side but also other sides should work on  further concretizing the parameters of this process. I would like to  emphasize the importance of preventing further escalation and  refraining from the use of force, which our leaders agreed on and  made a joint statement on this. Armenia remains committed to all the  tripartite statements of our leaders dated November 9, 2020 and all  subsequent ones. Thank you, we will work constructively," Mirzoyan  said.

In turn, Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan consistently stands for the  process of post-conflict normalization with Armenia.

"This post-conflict normalization is a process that consists of  different tracks. We advocate parallel work on all tracks. We believe  that they are complementary," he said.

At the same time, he noted that a certain stagnation had been  observed in the negotiation process since the end of last year. "In  general, we are bullish about the fact that since May of this year  the dynamics have been consistent and positive. There have already  been meetings and negotiations at the level of diplomatic staff on a  peace treaty, a meeting of leaders. We believe that today's talks  will also be fruitful and will provide an opportunity to once again  go over the entire spectrum of issues. Naturally, on a bilateral  basis, it is also a good opportunity to continue discussing topics  regarding the peace treaty with the Armenian delegation," the  Azerbaijani Foreign Minister summed up.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Minister stated that the last time the  parties met in this format was a long time ago. According to him, a  lot of topics have come up during this time, and expressed hope that  the meeting will be held in a constructive environment, and a direct  dialogue between Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov will allow  achieving additional results. According to him, the purpose of the  meeting is to exchange views on the tasks of normalizing relations  between Baku and Yerevan, and the steps that the Russian Federation  can take in this direction in order to contribute to the full  implementation of the tripartite statements of the leaders of the  Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan starting from November 9,  2020.

Lavrov offered to consider the entire range of issues of the  settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in a tripartite format  and agree on further steps, considering Russia's assistance.

"The tripartite statements of our leaders contain, in fact, a roadmap  for achieving sustainable solutions. We analyze the situation around  the South Caucasus, we believe that there is no alternative to the  agreements of our leaders. Russia is entirely interested in peace and  stability in this region, Russian interests are directly tied here.  We will do our best to ensure that the decisions regarding the  stabilization of the situation are implemented, hoping that they will  be respected by all other countries that are one way or another  interested in being present in this region," the head of the Russian  Foreign Ministry added.

Separately, Lavrov mentioned the need to stabilize the situation in  Nagorno-Karabakh and on the border, the need to solve humanitarian  problems, open  transport communications and agree on the text of a  peace treaty, as well as the development of contacts between experts,  public organizations, parliamentarians, noting that such experience  has already been, and it will also be an important step in building  confidence.