ArmInfo. Speakers of the parliaments of Armenia and Azerbaijan Alen Simonyan and Sahiba Gafarova agreed to hold a new meeting in mid-May through the mediation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mr Simonyan said in an interview with the Public Television of Armenia.
He called the previous meeting with the head of the legislative body of Azerbaijan, which took place on March 22 on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ministry of Railways, unprecedented. Simonyan explained that initially during the negotiations, the Azerbaijani side outlined "red lines", indicating that the discussion should only be within the framework of the agenda of parliamentary diplomacy, to which the Armenian side gave its consent. According to his assessment, the meeting took place in a fairly constructive atmosphere.
"We agreed that there is an atmosphere of mistrust between us towards each other. They do not trust us, and we do not trust them," Simonyan noted, adding that, according to Gafarova's assurances, Azerbaijan is not preparing any provocations.
"It was decided at the parliamentary level to establish contacts and begin communication. I noted that I intend to discuss this issue with the political team. Gafarova also stated that she would discuss the issue with her people," Mr Simonyan said.