Rhetoric and statements of Azerbaijani President continue to challenge rule-based order of int`l law
ArmInfo."Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region." Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated in a press statement during a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman in Zagreb.
Mirzoyan expressed the belief that Armenia's partners are interested in stability in the South Caucasus and share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment and sincere interest in long-term solutions. Armenia's position was very clear regarding possible solutions based on generally known principles and agreements.
"We exchanged views on international and regional security topics. I thoroughly updated my counterpart on the situation in the South Caucasus. As mentioned, we had earlier opportunities to discuss Armenia's vision of establishing stability and peace in the region, efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges and developing regional connectivity. Unfortunately, we see rhetoric and statements of the high-level Azerbaijani officials that continue challenging the rule-based order, territorial integrity, sovereignty of Armenia and, hence, the prospects of lasting peace in the region.
We believe our partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus share the same approach, that peace requires unwavering commitment and genuine interest in lasting solutions. Armenia's position has been very clear on possible solutions based on well-known principles and agreements. Countries should recognize each other's territorial integrity without any ambiguity. The peace treaty should provide clear foundations regarding the further delimitation process, which, according to our belief, should take place in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration and based on the freshest and legitimate Soviet Union maps. We also are sure that the connectivity that can be unlocked in the region, the economic and transport infrastructures could also help to advance lasting peace in the region. We believe that all the infrastructure should be unlocked according to and under the sovereignty and national jurisdictions of the countries and in accordance with the principles of equality and reciprocity.
Moreover, to promote this idea of peace and connectivity, the Government of the Republic of Armenia came up with the initiative of "Crossroads of Peace", which is, as I said, about unblocking the infrastructure, increasing the interconnectivity in the region," Mirzoyan noted.
Answering a question from a journalist from the Croatian Public Television, Mirzoyan noted: "As I said, Armenia is engaged in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith and we are more than interested in establishing lasting peace in our region. We believe that this will be beneficial not only for the people of Armenia, but for the countries in the region. However, we see that our constructiveness sometimes does not meet the same constructive approach in the behaviour of our neighbours. We have been engaged in negotiations by facilitation of the European Union, among other facilitators, and nowadays we see that Azerbaijan, unfortunately, refuses to resume the negotiations in the existing frameworks. However, we are interested in continuing our negotiations. As I said, we attach importance not so much to the issue of who facilitates the negotiations, but to the principles, according to which the negotiations should continue. And in this context I would like to emphasize again that those are territorial integrity, recognition of legitimate borders, inviolability of borders, respect for each other's sovereignty. These are the principles, according to which, I believe, peace should be agreed. When it comes to participation of Croatia or the European Union in general, I would like to express our appreciation that the EU and Croatia has shown in ensuring security in our region along the borderline. I've already mentioned the EU's Monitoring mission, but also I would like to express appreciation that Croatia and other EU countries showed in the context of meeting the urgent needs of the refugees who had to flee Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of military operation several months ago in September 2023," Mirzoyan emphasized.