Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Baku has not ruled out a new meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in the future, the Foreign Ministry reported on October 7.

“We consider it useful to discuss issues related to the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the post-conflict period. Earlier the foreign ministers of the two countries met in New York. We do not exclude such a meeting in the future,” Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said.

She stressed that Azerbaijan has always been open for dialogue and stressed the country’s preferences to settle differences through negotiations. The spokesperson added that Azerbaijan repeatedly stated its readiness to negotiate with Armenia in the post-war period.

Abdullayeva stressed that at this stage serious attention should be paid to the implementation of the joint statements signed by the leaders of the three countries.

“As it’s known, in this context, some issues remain to be addressed. We believe that the opening of communications, the beginning of negotiations on the delimitation of borders can create a solid foundation for our constructive progress in building a lasting peace in the region,” Abdullayeva emphasized.

Earlier, on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the Minsk Group co-chairs met separately in New York with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. The co-chairs also hosted both foreign ministers at a joint meeting for the first time after the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The co-chairs and foreign ministers discussed a wide range of outstanding unresolved issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions and withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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