Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian’s participation in the 17th meeting of OSCE Ministerial Council

Today the 17th meeting of Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe started in Athens. The delegation of Armenia headed by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian attended the meeting.

Foreign Ministers of the OSCE 56 member states, as well as high-ranking representatives of around twenty international organizations participated in the session.  

Within the framework of Ministerial, Armenian Foreign Minister had meetings with his counterparts form a number of countries.

The first day of the session was marked with a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries -  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, US Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, during which Foreign Ministers of Co-Chair countries on behalf of their Presidents expressed the support for the process of settlement of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue and stressed that the issue should be solved only by peaceful means.

As a result of five party meeting a joint statement was adopted, in which the sides express their satisfaction with the progress reached during the meetings of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which became more frequent and urged parties to maintain positive dynamics go forward to the finalization of Basic principles, based on the principles of Non-Use of Force, Territorial Integrity, and the Equal Rights and Self-Determination of Peoples.

On the same day in the morning Edward Nalbandian had participated in non-official meeting of Foreign Ministers of Collective Security Treaty Organization member-states, where issues of the agenda of the 17th meeting of OSCE Ministerial Council were discussed in order to coordinate positions of CTSO members. Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan attended the meeting.

Edward Nalbandian’s agenda was also full of bilateral meetings.

During the meeting between Minister Nalbandian and Foreign Minister of Estonia Urmas Paet the sides expressed satisfaction with regular meetings and mentioned that they are providing good possibilities to control the implementation of reached agreements and to outline new steps for the development of relations.

Urmas Paet reaffirmed the invitation by the Head of Estonian Government Andrus Ansipi to the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan.

Armenian Foreign Minister presented to his Estonian counterpart the recent developments in negotiations on the settlement of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue, the results of the meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan held on November 22, in Munich.

Ministers discussed the issues concerning the expansion of cooperation in the area of diplomatic training.

In Athens, Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Foreign Minister of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak.

The Ministers emphasized their willingness to undertake substantial steps for the development of bilateral relations and discussed the possibilities of organizing high-ranking visits, broadening of legal field, intensifying economic ties and promoting partnership in humanitarian area.

Ministers Nalbandian and Lajcak reached agreement on holding regular consultations between the ministries headed by them.

Slovakian Foreign Minister welcomed the steps aimed at the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and expressed the support of his country to that process.

In the capital of Greece, the meeting between Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoğlu took place.

The Ministers touched upon the ratification process of the protocols signed on October 10 between the two countries.