Armenian FM leaves for Washington for talks with Azerbaijan

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan left for a working visit to Washington, where the next round of negotiations with the Azerbaijani side on a peaceful settlement will be held, reported at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.

“Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan left for a working visit to Washington, where the next round of discussions on an agreement on the settlement of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will begin on June 26,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

June 24 MFA of Armenia published a statement on the need to introduce an international mechanism in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Ministry calls within the framework of peace negotiations to create a legal framework for the demarcation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration and the latest maps of the Soviet period, as well as to unblock the transport infrastructure of the region “on the basis of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity of countries, as well as a clear guarantee of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled that the Lachin corridor is still blocked, food, medicines, etc. are not delivered to the region, deliveries have been suspended even by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the population is being intimidated.

“Under these conditions, the international community cannot pretend to be blind and harbor illusions that the issues of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh can be resolved without special and urgent international attention, participation and efforts. Addressing the rights and security issues of the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh within the framework of an international mechanism through the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue is vital,” the statement said.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Mirzoyan through the mediation of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met in suburban Washington on May 1. The reason for the meeting was the situation in the Lachin corridor, where on April 23 Azerbaijan installed its checkpoint on the border with Armenia, effectively limiting traffic between it and Karabakh. Thus, another round of discussions on the agreement on the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku was held in the American capital.

May 14 in Brussels passed trilateral talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel. On May 25, 20-minute tripartite talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan took place in Moscow.