Nalbandian shrugs off reports that Armenia and Azerbaijan reached agreement on phased resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. Armenia’s foreign minister Edward Nalbandian has shrugged off today media reports claiming that Armenia and Azerbaijan reached agreement on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a June 20 meeting in Russian St. Petersburg hosted by their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
A day after the meeting the deputy head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration Novruz Mammadov claimed that the sides reached an agreement on a phased settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
In a statement posted on Armenian foreign ministry’s official website Nalbandian says that Novruz Mammadov has never participated in any negotiation and the summit in Saint Petersburg is not an exclusion.
‘At the latest meeting, he attended working lunch only, during which exclusively the creation of mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations and expansion of capabilities of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office were discussed,’ he says.
‘Regarding the package solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, first of all, as it was stated on numerous occasions – it should be based on recognition by Azerbaijan of the right of Nagorno-Karabakh people to self-determination and realization of that right. Not a single agreement on settlement of the issue was reached at the Summit in St. Petersburg.
At this stage, Azerbaijan should unconditionally implement agreements, reached and reaffirmed in Vienna and St. Petersburg – first and foremost, settlement of the issue exclusively through peaceful means, maintenance of 1994-1995 trilateral cease-fire agreements which have no time limitations, creation of mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations, as well as expansion of capabilities of the team of OSCE Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. All this will enable creation of relevant conditions for resumption of negotiations on settlement of the issue,’ Nalbandian says.-0-
A day after the meeting the deputy head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration Novruz Mammadov claimed that the sides reached an agreement on a phased settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
In a statement posted on Armenian foreign ministry’s official website Nalbandian says that Novruz Mammadov has never participated in any negotiation and the summit in Saint Petersburg is not an exclusion.
‘At the latest meeting, he attended working lunch only, during which exclusively the creation of mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations and expansion of capabilities of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office were discussed,’ he says.
‘Regarding the package solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, first of all, as it was stated on numerous occasions – it should be based on recognition by Azerbaijan of the right of Nagorno-Karabakh people to self-determination and realization of that right. Not a single agreement on settlement of the issue was reached at the Summit in St. Petersburg.
At this stage, Azerbaijan should unconditionally implement agreements, reached and reaffirmed in Vienna and St. Petersburg – first and foremost, settlement of the issue exclusively through peaceful means, maintenance of 1994-1995 trilateral cease-fire agreements which have no time limitations, creation of mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations, as well as expansion of capabilities of the team of OSCE Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. All this will enable creation of relevant conditions for resumption of negotiations on settlement of the issue,’ Nalbandian says.-0-