Pashinyan says Armenia ready to resume Karabakh talks under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
YEREVAN, August 12. /ARKA/. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that Armenia is ready to resume high-level peace talks with Azerbaijan under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
"Regarding the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ call to resume peace talks with Azerbaijan, I want to emphasize that Armenia is ready to participate in the negotiation process both at the high and the highest levels, and we are waiting for concrete proposals," Pashinyan said at a government meeting.
Pashinyan recalled that the key message in the July 29 statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs is the adoption of measures to reduce tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, a call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative actions and statements, as well as the resumption of the negotiation process under their auspices to achieve a comprehensive and a lasting settlement of the conflict.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ statement was welcomed on July 30 by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, thereby expressing Armenia's commitment to the resumption of peace talks.
“The mandate we have received from our people to start the era of peaceful development of Armenia, Artsakh and the region imposes a special responsibility on the government. To solve this problem, we must be as active and flexible as possible,’ said the Armenian prime minister.
At the same time, he acknowledged that there are problems that can be solved faster and problems that will take more time to solve.
"But our attitude should be as follows - to move towards achieving solutions. One of such issues, which, I think, can be resolved quite quickly, is the reopening of regional transport links," Pashinyan said.
In this context, he attached importance to the earliest possible resumption of the work of the trilateral working group chaired by the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan and the implementation of initiatives to create new communications and economic opportunities.
He also spoke in favor of stepping up work on the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. -0-
