Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev has come out with a statement on what Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan said at the meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, APA said.
In his statement, Hajiyev claims that the Armenian foreign minister allegedly made "contradictory statements and showed the international community who actually blocks the establishment of peace and security in the region". H. Hajiyev noted that "all responsibility for the ongoing spiral of tension lies entirely on the Armenian leadership." He said that Nagorno-Karabakh never participated in any of the rounds of talks on the development of basic principles. "It is obvious that the Armenian side is once again trying all possible means to block the beginning of substantive negotiations," he said. At his Tuesday meeting with the mediators, Minister Nalbandian touched upon statements regarding the development of a peace agreement, saying the government of Azerbaijan in fact intended to thwart the results of the negotiations over basic principles of settlement. Baku is trying to take advantage of the situation to justify gross human rights violations, violence against the opposition.
"As soon as there is an agreement on the basic principles, and agreement by Nagorno-Karabakh, then it will be possible to begin negotiations between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Artsakh for the development of a comprehensive peace agreement," Nalbandian stated.