Tuesday, January 23 2024 18:20

ArmInfo.Direct contacts between Yerevan and Baku have been established not only at the level of the offices of the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on January 23 at a press conference in Yerevan, summing up the results of 2023, referring to the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The country's chief diplomat noted that such direct contacts are also  held at the level of the foreign ministries of Armenia and  Azerbaijan, as well as other sbodies and departments working on the  ground. In this vein, he noted that the organization of the work of  border delimitation commissions is coordinated through direct  contacts between the two foreign policy departments.

At the same time, Mirzoyan noted that it does not matter for Armenia  whether these are direct negotiations or through the mediation of  some international players. "For us, the content of the negotiations  is fundamental. Armenia is ready for both direct negotiations and  through mediators," the Armenian minister said.

Touching on the possibility of holding a meeting between the foreign  ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the border, Mirzoyan noted  that the Armenian side had not received such a proposal. "As far as I  know, there was such an idea, but no specific proposals were  received. If there are any, we are ready to consider," the head of  the Armenian Foreign Ministry noted.

Answering a question about a possible meeting at the level of the  leaders of the two countries, Mirzoyan recalled that after the  meeting in Granada, there were various proposals, but they were not  implemented.  "At the moment there are no agreements or planned  meetings either at the level of the leaders of the two countries or  the heads of foreign affairs departments," the minister said, while  also pointing out the importance of the involvement of international  actors for Armenia in the process of normalizing relations between  the two countries.

The Armenian Foreign Minister also disagreed that the interest of  international actors in the regulation of Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations has decreased against the background of the electoral  processes in several countries. Mirzoyan believes that the  international players have not lost their interest, but on the  contrary, they are making more objective and clear appeals.

Referring to the threats made by the president of Azerbaijan to  Armenia, the minister stated that the regulation of relations is, in  fact, proceeding between two hostile states.  "There is every reason  to believe that the President of Azerbaijan lacks the political will  to normalize relations. On the contrary, we see trends towards  aggravation of the situation in all directions - from the border  delimitation process to the release of prisoners of war. However, the  Republic of Armenia remains committed to the peace process and, in  fact, is aimed at resolving all these issues," noted the head of the  Armenian Foreign Ministry, while he assured that no preconditions  have been put forward to resolve the issues existing between the two  sides.

The head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry also gave a vague answer to  the question regarding the legal succession of states. When reminded  that Azerbaijan does not consider itself the legal successor of  Soviet Azerbaijan and can formulate its further claims against  Armenia in this prism, Mirzoyan admitted that he does not understand  very well what the essence of the question is, but it can be said  that there are questions in this area between the parties as well and  they are also considered.