A step towards peace: Pashinyan presents details of Sochi meeting
YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan unveiled some of the details of his October 31 meetings with Russian and Azerbaijani presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
"Can we say that during that meeting a step was made towards the implementation of the "peace agenda"? I can say unequivocally - yes. It was a very useful and important meeting," Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan also said that Russia's proposals on Nagorno-Karabakh were fully in line with Armenia's approaches.
"Russian colleagues said that, in their opinion, it would be right to indefinitely postpone the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's status because now it is objectively impossible to find a status that would be mutually acceptable to both sides. How does the approaches of the Armenian government comply with this concept? Completely and 100%," he stressed.
At the same time, Pashinyan noted that his proposal on extending the mandate of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh was not accepted.
"But in my opinion, this issue is now on the agenda. But I want to pay attention to the fact that according to the trilateral statement the deployment of peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh is prolonged automatically. That is, it may not be extended if one of the parties raises objections six months before the deadline," Pashinyan said.
About Sochi meeting
According to the statement adopted following the October 31 summit of Russian and Azerbaijani presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to strict observance of all the earlier reached agreements in the interests of comprehensive normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, ensuring peace, stability, security and sustainable economic development of the South Caucasus.
The parties agreed to refrain from the use or threat of use of force, to discuss and solve all problems exclusively on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders in accordance with the UN Charter and the Almaty Declaration of 1991, and also stressed the importance of active preparation for the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia.
The parties agreed to make additional efforts to urgently resolve outstanding tasks, including the humanitarian issues, and also noted the key contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to ensuring security in its area of deployment and stressed the need for its efforts to stabilize the situation in the region. -0-
