The following is an official Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release.

The rhetoric used in the recent statements by different high-level Azerbaijani officials regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement has significantly toughened.

It is deplorable that these statements specifically stress the use of force or threat of use of force, the possibility of the solution of the conflict by the military means, resolving to maximalist and non-constructive stance. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have also reflected on these in their recent statement. The numerous constructive statements voiced by the Armenian side, including by the Prime Minister still remain unheeded by Azerbaijani side.  

We hear from Baku, that “the force factor has always been and will remain on the agenda,” “military factor plays a crucial role for the solution of the conflict,” “might is right” and so on. Moreover, amid the announcement of the preparation of the meeting between the leaders of the two countries, Azerbaijan launches offensive military drills that have not been notified in compliance with the requirements of the international commitments.

While in his remarks in the European Parliament the Prime Minister of Armenia underlines that culture of dialogue, tolerance and compromise should prevail in our region, Baku threatens to prepare its population not to peace, but to the resolution of the conflict by other means.

Such rhetoric, as well as statements based on the maximalist, non-constructive approaches do not contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to peace. Armenia has reiterated on numerous occasions that it doesn’t accept such approaches, as well as the threat for coercing the negotiations under the barrel of the gun.

Armenia has been consistently voicing its commitment and support to the peaceful settlement of the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship,  in which the security and status of Artsakh are our priorities. The fact that the peace process has not been suspended after the Velvet Revolution in Armenia, but moreover, received new dynamics is a vivid evidence of our commitment.

Creating an environment conducive to peace, introducing risk reduction and incident prevention mechanisms, and confidence-building measures, as it was set forth during the Dushanbe meeting, as well as previous meetings in Vienna and Saint Petersburg, continue to remain substantive.