Speaker Simonyan says brief meeting with Azeri counterpart took place in Russia

Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan said Tuesday that the negotiations with Azerbaijan were not in a deadlock and the discussions continued.

“Now we have a situation when we have an agreed-upon document,” Simonyan told reporters when asked whether the Armenian-Azeri talks were in a deadlock. “I also had a brief private meeting with the President of the Azerbaijani Parliament in Saint Petersburg. I think there can be no talk about any deadlock. It is beneficial also for the Azeri side for the process that we have been dealing with to conclude maximally swiftly,” he added.

Simonyan said the negotiations will not enter a deadlock and the likelihood of a new war will not increase. “We have to do everything for our agenda of peace to become reality,” Simonyan said.

Speaking about the Azeri cross-border shootings targeting Armenian towns, Simonyan said authorities were focused on the issue and were drawing conclusions, but highlighted that the goal of the authorities was to advance the agenda of peace. 

Simonyan participated in the CIS IPA session on April 17 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His Azeri counterpart, Sahiba Gafarova, also participated in the meeting.