Azerbaijan signed under a document in Geneva which talks about Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements – Vice Speaker Sharmazanov

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov considers the joint statement of the three Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan after Sargsyan-Aliyev Geneva meeting as an important achievement.

Sharmazanov told a press conference in Armenpress that after the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg following the April war Azerbaijan torpedoed the negotiation process over the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“However, thereafter another meeting was held in Geneva which was followed by the five-sided statement of the Co-Chair countries and the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs for the first time in 4 months according to which Azerbaijan signed under a document which is about the implementation of the same mechanisms as during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits, and which they constantly wanted to ignore for a year”, Sharmazanov said.

The Parliament’s Vice Speaker stated that after the April war the Armenian diplomacy has clarified and toughened its position. “Unlike Azerbaijan, we are not building an anti-Azerbaijani or anti-Turkish society. We build a society which serves the Republic of Armenia, where there is no hostility. And the fight of the Artsakh people is for the sake of independence and freedom”, the Vice Speaker noted.

The last meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev was held on October 16, 2017 in Geneva. After the meeting the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group – US, France and Russia, and the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan issued a joint statement in which they assessed the meeting of the Presidents as constructive. According to the statement the Presidents agreed to take additional measures to move forward the negotiation process and reduce tension in the line of contact.

The Co-Chairs expressed satisfaction over the direct talks held after a long pause. They are ready to continue the mediation activity with the sides for the peaceful and negotiated settlement of the NK conflict. As a next step the Co-Chairs will hold working discussions with the ministers in the near future.