YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian received on December 14 OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Stéphane Visconti of France, Andrew Schofer of the United States of America, Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Federation in Armenia Aleksey Sinegubov, and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The meeting focused on the developments following the ceasefire established in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, as well as on issues relating to the restoration and protection of rights of Artsakh-Armenians. In this context FM Aivazian reaffirmed the principled stance of the Armenian sides that the addressing of the rights and interests of the Artsakh-Armenians should take place first of all within the frames of the peaceful process under the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. As a priority of the Armenian side, he highlighted the establishment of the status of Artsakh based on its people’s right to self-determination, the de-occupation of the territories of Artsakh captured by Azerbaijan, provision of conditions for the safe return of Artsakh-Armenians to their own settlements and the preservation of the religious and cultural heritage.

The minister also drew the attention of the Co-Chairs on the Azerbaijani violation of its own commitments assumed by the November 9 trilateral statement. The Armenian FM said the obvious demonstration of this was the provocative actions by Azerbaijan in the line of contact yesterday which were carried out during the visit of the Co-Chairs to the region.

Commenting on the hate speech and Armenophobia existing in the statements of the Azerbaijani leadership, the Armenian FM said with that they once again prove Azerbaijan’s incapability to constructively engage in the peace process and refuse from the policy of acting from the positions of force or threat of force.

The Armenian FM and the Co-Chairs also discussed the resumption of the peace process within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan