Armenian foreign ministry: Karabakh needs to join talks with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan must comprehend that without direct participation of Nagorno-Karabakh it is impossible to achieve stable peace in the conflict region, Armenian foreign ministry’s spokesman Tigran Balayan has said at a briefing in Yerevan on May 22.

According to him, the fact that the Armenian side insists upon participation of Nagorno-Karabakh representatives is not new. However, the realities have changed which implies more active participation of Karabakh in the negotiation process, Balayan explained.

The Armenian ministry reminded that Azerbaijan refuses to have direct talks with Karabakh. “However, the ceasefire agreement (signed in May 1994 - EAD) was a result of direct talks. Our task today is to make Baku comprehend that the way for a result means direct negotiations with Karabakh,” Balayan noted.

He stressed that being the guarantor of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic security, Armenia does not refuse from talks with Azerbaijan, but participation of representatives of the unrecognized republic is a necessary pre-condition for achieving stable and long-term peace.

“Armenia’s position has not changed. We believe that the problem must be settled by a peaceful way only on the basis of proposals by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, implementation of agreements achieved after the April 2016 war,” Balayan noted.

He reminded that the three OSCE MG co-chairs plan to visit Armenia in June to meet the new country’s leadership. The date of the visit is being confirmed. No agreements have been made on a meeting of Armenia and Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers, Balayan informed.