On December 1, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, participated in the 29th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), held in Lodz, Poland, the press offices of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministries reported. It should be noted that a few minutes before the event's start, Azerbaijan and Armenia's foreign affairs heads had a brief conversation.

Jeyhun Bayramov's speech

Jeyhun Bayramov stated that the principle of consensus-based decision-making is reflected in all key OSCE decisions. "Azerbaijan has suffered from the abuse of consensus within the organization for years. Nevertheless, we have always advocated strict adherence to the letter and spirit of security cooperation, based on the OSCE and its conflict-related instruments," he added. According to him, sending the so-called needs assessment mission to Armenia without consensus is a clear violation of the mandate adopted by the collective will of all participating states. "Azerbaijan calls on these institutions to correct the gross violation of the mandate," he added.

"Also, Azerbaijan is determined to reintegrate citizens of Armenian origin living in post-conflict areas into their political, social, and economic space by providing them with the same rights and freedoms as all citizens of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the Constitution of Azerbaijan provides a solid legal framework. The dialogue and contacts that have increased in recent months between the central authorities of Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian population should be encouraged and continued," Bayramov emphasized.

"At high-level meetings held in Brussels, Prague, and Sochi this year, both sides confirmed mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders. I met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia 3 times to discuss preparing a bilateral agreement on interstate relations. At our last meeting in Washington on November 7, 2022, we agreed to accelerate negotiations to this end. In this regard, Azerbaijan has already submitted its comments on the draft agreement to Armenia," the diplomat underlined.

"The role of some third parties in emboldening Armenia's revanchist behavior is also of grave concern, as it prompts Armenia to engage in increased military provocations and warmongering rhetoric," he underscored.

Ararat Mirzoyan's speech

Ararat Mirzoyan stated, "On September 13-14, unleashed unprovoked aggression occupying around 140 square km of the sovereign territory of Armenia. This has been the 3rd large-scale offensive against Armenia since the signing of the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. This aggression, which resulted in 233 casualties, including among civilians, targeted settlements, and civilian infrastructure, internally displaced thousands of the citizens of Armenia and caused serious economic and environmental damage. The worst forms of war crimes with extrajudicial killings and torture of Armenian military personnel, including women and men, have been an inherent feature of the Azerbaijani aggression."

"Moreover, during the same year, Azerbaijan continued its provocative and aggressive actions against Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) in March and August this year. In blatant violation of Trilateral Statements, Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed yet another settlement of NK and tried to impede the functioning of the Lachin corridor, which is the way of life for more than 120 thousand people," he added.

"Despite the frequent provocations from the Azerbaijani side, we did not stop our talks on normalizing our relations, unblocking all transport and economic links, delimitation, and border security. Let me be clear here: Armenia is ready to proceed to unblock communications once Azerbaijan agrees that all roads should operate in full respect of our sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national legislation," the diplomat emphasized.

"Delimitation process of our state border should not turn into an exercise of putting forward territorial claims against Armenia and thus should be carried out on maps holding legal bases. In this regard, the agreements reached in Prague and Sochi this year, particularly the commitment to realize the delimitation based on the UN charter and the 1991 Almaty declaration, will foster this process," he added.

Meeting between Bayramov and Borrell

On December 1, within the framework of his participation in the 29th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), held in Lodz, Poland, Jeyhun Bayramov met with Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Relations and Security Policy.

During the meeting, issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union in various fields, prospects of relations, and the implementation of agreements reached in the energy field were discussed. Efforts to advance the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the role of the European Union were exchanged.

"It was brought to attention that Armenia created obstacles within the framework of the process, reneged on the obligations on the agreements reached the level of the leaders, and created a wrong impression about the negotiation process. The minister also once again drew attention to the danger of landmines in the territories freed from occupation," the report added.

Joseph Borrell noted that the strategic partnership relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union in the energy field have great development potential. He said the European Union intends to continue supporting the normalization process.

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Ararat Mirzoyan Meets with EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell