Baku: Armenia again tries to impede substantive negotiations

Armenia again tries to impede substantive negotiations, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev said when commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s statements at his February 17 meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

“It is deeply regrettable that by his contradictory comments the Armenian foreign minister again showed the international community who actually impedes peace and security in the region,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reports Hajiyev as saying. Hajiyev said the responsibility for the ongoing wave of tensions lies entirely on the Armenian leadership.

“By the way, the mentioned “Nagorno-Karabakh” has never participated in any rounds of the talks on the development of basic principles. It is obvious that the Armenian side is once again trying all possible means to block the beginning of substantive negotiations,” he said.

As EAD reported earlier, during his February 17 meeting with the OSCE MG co-chairs, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian addressed “Baku’s alleged commitment to development of a peace treaty,” saying Azerbaijan’s leadership, in fact, seeks to undermine the negotiation process around the basic principles of the Karabakh conflict’s resolution. “Baku is attempting to use the unresolved conflict tо justify the gross violations of human rights inside the country and repressions against opponents. As soon as an agreement on the Basic Principles is achieved, and Nagorno-Karabakh approves it, it will be possible to launch negotiations between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia to draft a comprehensive peace agreement”, Minister Nalbandian said.