Russian, Armenian foreign ministers discuss bilateral relations, Nagorno-Karabakh situation

YEREVAN, April 22. /TASS/. Foreign Ministers of Russia and Armenia Sergey Lavrov and Edward Nalbandian discussed the bilateral relations and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday, Armenia’s top diplomat said after the talks. "We have thoroughly discussed the implementation of the agreements reached by the leaders of our two countries," Nalbandian said. "These agreements concern both political and economic agenda and efforts aimed at boosting our defense capabilities." According to Nalbandian, the two ministers also discussed "many other issues of the Armenian-Russian agenda, namely, the trade and economic ties, cooperation within the framework of the integration processes," and cooperation within various international organizations, including the UN, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). He noted that the most important part of today’s discussions concerned the deterioration of the situation on the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and actions to deal with the aftermath of this situation. "Together with Russia and other countries that are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, we are trying to reaffirm and strengthen the ceasefire enshrined in the 1994-1995 agreements and ensure the appropriate conditions to return the settlement process to normalcy," Nalbandian said. "We are unanimous in the opinion that the use of force is inadmissible and there is no alternative to resolving the crisis through negotiations," the minister added. Read more