Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received the delegation headed by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Miroslav Lajčák, according to the press service of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
After holding one-on-one meeting, the diplomats continued discussions with the participation of delegations.
Greeting the guests, Elmar Mammadyarov noted the important role of the OSCE in the European security architecture. At the same time, the minister underlined that the protracted conflicts in the territories of the participating states constitute serious threat to the security in the OSCE area.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister informed the Chairman-in-Office about the latest negotiations process with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Referring to the recent statements of the Armenian leadership, Mammadyarov underlined that such statements seriously undermine the negotiation process. Emphasizing that the position of Azerbaijan in negotiations remain unchanged, he stressed that the withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and return of the Azerbaijani displaced persons to their homelands constitute the basis of negotiations and this demand is reflected in the UN Security Council resolutions.
In his turn, Miroslav Lajčák touched upon the chairmanship priorities of his country and noted that prevention, mediation and mitigation of the conflicts and their humanitarian consequences is among these priorities. In this regard, the Slovak diplomat highlighted that his visit creates a good opportunity to exchange views on the conflict.
At the meeting the sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
