Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland on the sidelines of the 127th Session of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe in Cyprus.
The interlocutors discussed a number of issues facing the Council of Europe and the routes of their resolution. The Secretary General hailed the effective cooperation established between Armenia and the Council of Europe.
Edward Nalbandian briefed Thorbjørn Jagland on the results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia in April and praised the Venice Commission’s export support. Reference was made to the developments within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the need to take practical steps to recover the trust in the organization.
Edward Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs towards creation of conditions conducive to furthering the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
Armenia’s top diplomat said “Baku is doing the utmost to disrupt the peace process.” Opposing the consistent calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the international community to strongly observe the ceasefire regime, Azerbaijan keeps violating the trilateral agreements on ceasefire.”
Edward Nalbandian stressed that “Armenia constantly calls on the OSCE Minsk Group to point out the party responsible for ceasefire violations. “By turning down the creation of an investigation mechanism, Azerbaijan is trying to avoid responsibility for periodic violations of the ceasefire regime,” Nalbandian said.
He added, however, that “the non-standard statement issued by the Co-Chairs yesterday clearly points to the party responsible for escalation.”