Russian FM holds telephone conversations with Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs

On March 21, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia reports. Ararat Mirzoyan and Sergey Lavrov touched upon the implementation of the agreements reached in the trilateral statements from November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021 and November 26, 2021. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan presented the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has developed as a result of Azerbaijan's provocations and violations of the ceasefire regime. Mirzoyan also presented the position of the Armenian side regarding the start of negotiations on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in this context, the importance of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship was noted. The sides touched upon the process of settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations. The sides exchanged views on regional and international security issues.

On March 21, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov held a telephone conversation, Russian Foreign Ministry reports. The sides exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues. The Ministers discussed the implementation of key provisions of the trilateral agreements from November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021 and November 26, 2021, as well as the issue of signing a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The process of further work of the regional "3+3" platform has been discussed. 

At the meeting with Çavuşoğlu, we expressed our readiness to advance the process of the establishment of relations and the opening of borders. Ararat Mirzoyan

At the meeting with Çavuşoğlu, we expressed our readiness to advance the process of the establishment of relations and the opening of borders, FM Ararat Mirzoyan said. "At our meeting with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the importance of further normalization and settlement was mutually noted, and during the meeting both sides confirmed their readiness to advance this process without preconditions and, in the end, to establish relations and open the borders between the countries,"  Mirzoyan said.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said today that Azerbaijan is holding in captivity 38 persons, 3 of whom are civilians. "Armenian prisoners of war and civilians are still illegally held in Azerbaijan. And Armenia continues raising the issue of the immediate return of Armenian POWs, hostages and other persons held in Azerbaijan at different international formats. Azerbaijan is still holding 38 persons – POW, hostage and persons held in another status. 3 out of 38 are civilians. It’s worth noting that 2 out of these 38 have been captured before the November 16 escalation," the FM said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs.

The issue has been included to the agenda of the PACE autumn session on 2021 April 19, as well as the decision on applying ECHR interim measures in Azerbaijan is still in force. On May 20, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the immediate release and return of Armenian captives. The FM also recalled the 2021 December 7 decisions of the UN’s International Court of Justice, where through the use of urgent measures the Court obliged Azerbaijan to prevent inciting racial hatred and discrimination targeting ethnic Armenians, to take necessary measures to prevent and punish the acts of vandalism and desecration directed against the Armenian cultural heritage. The minister said the statement of the Azerbaijani culture minister that a commission must be set up to deal with the “restoration of Aghvan cultural monuments” makes urgent sending a UNESCO mission to Nagorno Karabakh. And the Armenian side is now holding negotiations on this direction.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia adopted a state strategy to create a security environment around Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and to open an era of peaceful and sustainable development for our country and the region. Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan said this today during the sitting of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. “In 2021, all our actions were aimed at implementing this strategy. In order to achieve our goals, the full restoration of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs was a priority, with the primary emphasis on the status of Artsakh and the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh,” said Ararat Mirzoyan.

“Ultimately, there is nothing inadmissible in Azerbaijan’s proposal that was passed to Yerevan on March 10 except that these issues do not fully address the possible agenda of comprehensive peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and our answers were aimed at completing that agenda,” Ararat Mirzoyan said in the National Assembly on Monday.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said on March 14 that it had applied to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (the United States, Russia and France) requesting that they organize Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on a peace treaty “on the basis of the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act.” It followed a statement by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov that Baku had submitted a five-point proposal to Yerevan to normalize relations.

Baku insists that a future peace treaty with Yerevan should be based on five fundamental principles, including mutual recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual reaffirmation of the absence of territorial claims to each other and a legally binding obligation not to make such claims in the future, abstaining from threatening each other’s security, delimitation and demarcation of the border with the establishment of diplomatic relations and unblocking of transport links. “We consider the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the addressing of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh to be key and fundamental. We are ready to start negotiations on this complete basis and it is with this proposal that we applied to the OSCE Minsk Group,” the minister said, answering questions of lawmakers.

As a result of the direct intervention of the Azerbaijani side, the gas supply to the Republic of Artsakh has been stopped

As a result of the direct intervention of the Azerbaijani side, the gas supply to the Republic of Artsakh has been stopped again, NKR InfoCenter reports.

We have sufficient grounds to assume that during the repair of the gas pipeline, the Azerbaijani side installed a valve through which it stopped gas supply a few hours ago. The situation was immediately reported to the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in Artsakh, together with which the authorities of Artsakh are making appropriate efforts to restore gas supply.

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