We Have A Historic Opportunity To End The Conflicts In the South Caucasus – Pashinyan

Dear Prime Minister, I truly believe that we have a historic opportunity to end the conflicts in the South Caucasus and create sustainable peace in our region – we highly appreciate the efforts of the Georgian government – the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan told the Prime Minister of Georgia at the press conference.

According to him, Georgia’s policy is aimed at contributing to regional and international stability and peace.

As Pashinyan notes, the beneficiaries of the peace achieved in the South Caucasus are not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Georgia, Turkey and Iran.

“I am glad that I have come to friendly Georgia once again. Thank you very much for the traditional warm welcome and hospitality that my delegation received during the last period. We managed to expand the comprehensive cooperation between our countries in all fields. The best indicator of this is that in January of this year, the cooperation between Georgia and Armenia rose to the level of a higher strategic partnership. We have thus managed to establish an effective and viable mechanism of periodic contacts based on mutual interests as well as principles and democratic values ​​accepted by the wise peoples of our countries.

I must emphasize that Georgia and Armenia unconditionally recognized the territorial integrity and sovereignty of each country. I consider this fact one of the important factors to achieve stability and long lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

Dear colleagues, we had the opportunity to discuss a number of issues related to achieving lasting peace and stability in our region. I presented to my colleague the latest development information in the process of Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization. I must mention that during the difficult negotiations, within the framework of the delimitation-demarcation process with Azerbaijan, we managed to achieve some progress. Armenia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement to operate within the framework of the delimitation process based on the provisions of the 1991 Almaty Declaration. Which means that the basis for this process will be the definition of administrative borders between the former Soviet republics. We expect that in the near future we will achieve practical progress in the delimitation of the Armenia-Georgia border. We have expressed common positions in this regard. I think you know that as a result of almost 2 years of negotiations, Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on 80% of the treaty establishing peace and interstate relations. We proposed that Azerbaijan sign up to the provisions that had already been agreed upon. It was also proposed to establish diplomatic relations and resolve all other important issues that are of mutual interest. Unblocking and full operation of all economic, infrastructure and communications is the topic of stability and economic development of the region, which we consider a priority of our government. Our idea on this issue is best reflected in the Crossroads of Peace project, which was created by the Armenian government and which I first shared with our international partners during the conference in Tbilisi.

Dear Prime Minister, I truly believe that we have a historic opportunity to end the conflicts in the South Caucasus and create lasting peace in our region. I am also sure that the beneficiaries of this peace are not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Georgia and Turkey. Iran will also benefit. That is why, despite all the difficulties, our government will steadily and unyieldingly continue to make all efforts to make peace in the region possible. We highly appreciate the efforts of the Government of Georgia, that your contribution was also made. Your policy is aimed at contributing to regional and international stability and peace,” Pashinyan said.