On June 3, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Artak Apitonyan received Rudolf Michalka,  the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus.

In his welcoming remarks, Artak Apitonyan highly appreciated the dialogue between Armenia and the Slovak chairmanship of the OSCE, and regular visits of Ambassador Michalka to Armenia and his participation in events related to cooperation within the OSCE attest to that.

Rudolf Mihalka presented his activities and projects in his capacity as the Special Representative for the South Caucasus. The sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects of cooperation between Armenia and the OSCE and the possible role of the Office of the Special Representative for the South Caucasus in this matter.

Deputy Minister Apitonyan presented Armenia's position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, reiterating the commitment of the Armenian side to the peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. He emphasized that Armenia attaches great importance to the establishment of an environment conducive to peace and in this context expressed concern over the recent escalation of the situation as a result of Azerbaijan's military provocation and the killing of the Artsakh Defense Army private, as well as calls for violence and xenophobia in the Azerbaijani parliament.

The interlocutors touched upon the confidence-building measures within the framework of the OSCE, including the issue of contacts between the societies. Deputy Minister Apitonyan underlined that the contacts between societies will have added value if there are inclusive by including the representatives of the Artsakh’s society.