Beneficiaries of peace in the region are not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Georgia, Turkey, and Iran - Armenia and Georgia PMs issue statements

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made statements for media  representatives after the meeting summarizing the results of the discussions.

Below are the statements of the two Prime Ministers, as issued by the Armenian PM's office.

Irakli Kobakhidze - Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I welcome you again, I welcome the representatives of the governments of Armenia and Georgia. It is very nice to host you, dear Mr. Prime Minister.

I recall my visit to the Republic of Armenia in March, I express my gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality. The relations between Georgia and Armenia are based on long-standing friendly ties that exist between our peoples based on centuries of mutual respect. And I am very happy that as a result of all this, a strategic partnership has been established from a political point of view, which will support the further deepening of our relations. I am very happy that the signing of the strategic partnership agreement played an important role and brought practical results.

I expressed my gratitude to my colleague, the Prime Minister, for his decision to support the UN resolution regarding the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions. This decision will contribute to the further strengthening of relations between our two countries.

I also expressed my gratitude to my colleague for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our countries. Our relations are very dynamic, high-level visits are frequent, and it's our obligation to maintain this momentum in our relations. We talked about the deepening of our relations in all directions: political, economic, educational and other spheres. These areas are of equal priority for us.

Georgia supports peace and stability in the South Caucasus. I would like to emphasize that our efforts, particularly in the direction of overcoming the existing difficulties in the region, continue. Georgia welcomes the positive progress towards the resolution of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and we are ready to play our role in ensuring stability in the region, naturally, to the extent of our capabilities.

And finally, I would like to express my satisfaction again for our meetings today. We had very interesting conversations, we had the opportunity to exchange views about the relations between Georgia and Armenia, the processes that are going on in the region.

Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, for visiting Georgia and thank you for your contribution to the development of Georgia-Armenia relations.

Thank you.

Nikol Pashinyan - Honorable Prime Minister Kobakhidze,
Dear members of the governments of Armenia and Georgia,
Dear attendees,

I am happy for another visit to ftaternal Georgia. Let me thank you for the traditional warm reception and hospitality shown to me and my delegation.

In recent years, serious intensity has been observed in the relations between Armenia and Georgia, thanks to which we have also managed to expand the multi-content cooperation between our countries in all fields. The best proof of this is that in January of this year, the cooperation between Armenia and Georgia was raised to the level of strategic partnership. Thus, we managed to develop a viable mechanism of effective and periodic contacts, based on mutual interests, principles adopted by the friendly peoples of our countries, and democratic values.

I must emphasize that Armenia and Georgia mutually and unconditionally respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. I consider this fact one of the important factors for establishing stability and lasting peace in the South Caucasus. The existing cooperation between our countries is a practical reflection of our understanding of how the relations between the countries of the region should be, based on mutual respect, common interests and economic cooperation aimed at universal development.

Dear colleagues,

Today we had the opportunity to address a wide range of issues related to the establishment of long-term peace and strengthening of stability in our region. I have presented to my colleague the latest developments in the process of normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. I must mention that during the negotiations with Azerbaijan within the framework of the demarcation and delimitation process, we have managed to record some progress. Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement to be guided in the further process of border delimitation by the provisions of the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, which means that the administrative borders of the Soviet republics of the Soviet Union should be the basis of that process. We expect that in the nearest future we will ensure practical progress also within the framework of the Armenia-Georgia border demarcation process, which we have already discussed and we have a common understanding, which I think is very important.

I think you are aware that as a result of nearly two years of negotiations, Armenia and Azerbaijan were able to mostly agree on the text of the "Peace and Interstate Relations" agreement, by approximately 80 percent. We have suggested to Azerbaijan to sign the provisions of the draft of this document which have been agreed so far in the nearest future, to establish diplomatic relations and to continue discussions in the direction of addressing all issues of mutual importance.

Unblocking and full operation of all economic infrastructures and communications is of key importance for the stability and economic development of the region, which we consider one of the priorities of our Government. Our ideas on this issue are best reflected in the "Crossroads of Peace" project developed by the Government of Armenia, which, by the way, I presented to our international partners for the first time during the conference held in Tbilisi.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I truly believe that we have a historic opportunity to end the era of conflict in the South Caucasus and establish lasting peace in our region. I am also sure that the beneficiaries of this peace are not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Georgia, Turkey, and Iran will benefit from it equally. This is the reason why, despite all the complications, our Government will consistently continue efforts to make peace in the region possible, and we also highly appreciate the efforts of the Government of Georgia to make its contribution and contribute to the establishment of regional and international stability and peace with its policies.

Thank you.