YEREVAN, JULY 17, ARMENPRESS. The President of the European Council Charles Michel referred to the statements of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Ali, who on the one hand speaks about peace, on the other hand makes rhetoric about the aspirations towards the territories of Armenia.

During the press conference following the negotiations with caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, answering the question of ARMENPRESS if there are contradictions in the Azerbaijani president’s announcements, who on the one hand speaks about peace, on the other hand we see his announcements about aspirations towards the territories of Armenia and what Europe should do, Charles Michel emphasized that it’s necessary to refrain from aggressive rhetoric to make it possible to refer to all the components and elements that need to be addressed.

‘’I have a meeting with the president of Azerbaijan tomorrow, I will try to see what kind of constructive, positive role the European Union can play in supporting the Minsk Group. The history of the EU is also based on overcoming previous conflicts. But after overcoming those previous conflicts, very serious progress was made at EU level. We succeeded. At first it was not easy, we were able to make step by step progress in building this unique political course based on mutual respect and cooperation’’, Michel said.

Referring to the promotion of regional cooperation, he particularly spoke about the problems of the transport sector. ‘’I know there are plans that include the railroad. This can be a direction for establishing dialogue. I do not underestimate the difficulties, I realize what obstacles and difficulties there are, but the presence of political will is important here. This does not mean that it is possible to solve every problem in one day, it will take time, there will be difficulties, but the first is to try to create a better atmosphere of cooperation, to try to understand what are the opposite opinions, arguments and to try to find some possible solutions’’, the President of the European Council said.