Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has claimed addressing the United Nations that Azerbaijan poses a threat to regional security and stability.

Armenian media quoted him as saying at the UN summit in New York devoted to the Millennium Development Goals that Azerbaijan allegedly continues to reject the proposal to agree upon non-use of force and its threat, which runs counter to the UN principles.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place between Armenia and Azerbaijan since a brutal war in the 1990s that claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes.

"Today we are witnessing Azerbaijan’s bellicose stance, its increasing military budget, belligerent rhetoric and provocations, which jeopardizes security and stability in the region," Nalbandian alleged.

Armenia continues to occupy Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been mostly fruitless so far. Azerbaijan has not ruled out military action to liberate its land and has spent billions on dollars on building up its military.

Nalbandian believes that armament continues to threaten not only peace and security but also economic and social development in the volatile region.

He also said that when progress is being cited in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, there are nations that remain without international attention.

"The people of Nagorno Karabakh are making every effort to provide conditions for better living standards and to protect human rights. And they are doing so without the assistance of the international community, still awaiting relevant aid programs. We cannot assert that all Millennium Development Goals have been met and that equality and justice have been served internationally until we have succeeded in eliminating the damage inflicted to innocent people as a result of inaction."

Though the separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh declared so-called independence at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991, this "independence", which blatantly tramples on international law, has not been recognized by the world community.

Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry, told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that Nalbandian addressed the UN after a speech delivered by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and was responding to his statement.

The Armenian minister has also met in New York with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. No details of that meeting are disclosed.