Armenia to maintain “constructive engagement” in Azerbaijan talks![]() December 6, 2024 - 18:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia continues its constructive engagement in negotiations aiming to fully normalize relations with Azerbaijan, having agreed upon 15 out of the 17 Articles of the draft Agreement, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in his statement at the 31st OSCE Ministerial Council on Thursday, December 5. “This year the bilateral negotiations led to the signing of the Regulation for border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which recognized the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration as a basis for delimitation of the border. On the ground, we succeeded to delimit more than 12 km of the border, and we hope that this document will pave the way for efficient continuation of the process and thus will largely contribute to stability in the region,” Mirzoyan said. “We have also managed to achieve some progress towards signing the Peace Agreement between our two countries. We have agreed upon Preamble and 15 out of the 17 Articles of the draft Agreement, and if there is enough political will, it can be concluded and signed swiftly. Well, Armenia has continuously proven its readiness to sign the Agreement and close the page of enmity in South Caucasus.” According to Mirzoyan, peace has no alternative as the people in the region have already suffered a lot from bloody conflicts. “Against all odds, we are determined to continue our efforts to reach the desired goal. In this regard, the connectivity project called “Crossroads of Peace” proposed by the Armenian side has a potential to increase trust, build confidence and foster better interaction between the countries of our region,” the diplomat said. “We believe that full normalization of relations between Armenia and Türkiye, particularly establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the borders can be another important contribution to peace and stability in the region. To this end, we continue the dialogue with our Turkish counterparts and take some practical steps which include joint assessment of the bridge between Armenia and Turkiye as well as the technical requirements for the border crossing by the Gyumri-Kars railway. Once the agreements are implemented, they will have positive impact on the people of the region and beyond.” At the same Council, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov touched on the bilateral relationship between Azerbaijan and Armenia and highlighted that achievements of the commissions of delimitation and demarcation “demonstrate that direct bilateral negotiations are the best and the only viable way to move forward in the normalisation process, which has been consistently advocated for by Azerbaijan.” However, Bayramov added that “notwithstanding the progress, there are persistent challenges on the path of normalisation”, accusing Armenia of having territorial claims against Azerbaijan. ![]() ![]() Grigoryan added that the situation around the world and particularly in the region is very difficult. The Armenian Defense Ministry has denied Azerbaijan's accusations of violating the ceasefire. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to social media to thank his Lithuanian counterpart for the contribution. President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. ![]() ![]() Partner news | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |