"It will be a familiarization meeting not only with regard to personal acquaintance, but also the approaches, positions and philosophy of the two parties. We hope that the meeting will yield positive results, i.e. the sides will declare they are ready to continue the negotiations," Nalbandian told in a press conference today.
According to the Minister of Armenia, the suggestions presented by the Co-Chairs in Madrid form a basis for talks, and Armenia is ready to continue the peace process based on those. “Azerbaijan must also be ready to continue the negotiations on the basis of these proposals,” the Minister noted.
In response to some statements of the Azeri side that there is no document on the table, the Foreign Minister said the document exists and is registered in the OSCE in Vienna. “In reality, these proposals are registered in the form of a document,” Minister Nalbandian noted. According to him, the proposals are the result of long efforts of the Co-Chairs and the conflicting parties.
Edward Nalbandian underlined that we should refrain from any step that can hamper the talks. Currently the negotiations are in a stage when we should be cautious not to disturb these in any manner, not to pour oil on the flames, especially if some structures are not familiar with the process, they should be more cautious in their comments and statements.
The Minister noted that the side of Azerbaijan rarely notes it’s ready to continue the peace process. There are many more threats on different levels in Baku that the issue may be solved in a military way. “The Karabakh issue must be solved in a peaceful way: there is no alternative to negotiations, the statements about the military solution are a result of impermissible way of thinking,” Minister Nalbandian said, adding that during the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov he got convinced that the Minsk Group Co-Chairs keep to the same position.
Reported by Public Radio of Armenia
