Baku ready to take part in meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs
By Rashid Shirinov
Baku is ready to take part in a Moscow meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, but there are no suggestions on specific dates yet.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov announced about this in an interview with RIA Novosti on February 9.
“The idea was voiced when I was in Moscow. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed to hold a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. I said that I'm ready,” the minister said.
However, specific dates of the meeting were not discussed.
“This will require coordination of schedules. We have not received a proposal for a specific date, but we give our fundamental consent,” Mammadyarov added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
The minister further noted that Azerbaijan is concerned about the situation on the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia and considers it outdated.
“We and our regional partners always worry about the Metsamor NPP. It is quite outdated, like the ‘Chernobyl option’,” Mammadyarov said.
He added that despite the fact that Rosatom [Russia’s national nuclear corporation] provides some extra money for the power plant, it is already out of date.
“If something happens, not only Armenia but everyone will suffer,” the minister added.
The construction of the Metsamor NPP began in 1970. After the devastating earthquake of 1988 in the town of Spitak, it was closed; but in 1995, despite numerous international protests, the Armenian government renewed the operation of the NPP.
The European Union insisted on closing the NPP offering 200 million Euro. Despite this, the NPP is still functioning as no alternative sources of energy exist in Armenia.
Many international ecologists and scientists also keep noting that the seismic activity of the area makes the operation of the nuclear power station in Metsamor an extremely dangerous enterprise.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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