“Shooting at each other is the alternative to the lack of meetings and negotiations,” Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov said.

Commenting on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest speech, Sharmazanov said “it was retreat not only from the St. Petersburg meeting, but also the agreements reached in Vienna.”

“There is no need in the implementation of the investigation mechanism on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in this stage,” Aliyev said during a meeting with servicemen and military officials in Baku. He sees the mechanism as a way of freezing the conflict.

Sharmazanov said the Minsk Group Co-Chairs should express a stance on Aliyev’s remarks.

Asked whether it’s expedient to continue the meetings, the Vice-President of the National Assembly said: “I’ve always said that negotiations are better than absence of meetings. Shooting at each other is the alternative to the lack of meetings and talks, while peace remains our primary goal.”

In the speech Ilham Aliyev once again hinted at the step-by-step settlement of the Karabakh conflict and declared he would never allow creation of a second Armenian state “on the historical lands of Azerbaijan.” In response to that Sharmazanov said “Whatever its status, Nagorno Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan.”