The comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict would greatly contribute to the establishment of lasting peace in the region, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at the sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS member states convened in Minsk, Belarus.

During the event, which was held in a narrow and then expanded format, the Foreign Ministers of the CIS member states, exchanged views on regional and international issues, discussed in detail issues of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the CIS.

The Foreign Ministers summarized the work carried out over the past thirty years, the programs implemented, the prospects for the development of the CIS, and the priorities of its activities.

Referring to the further development of the structure, Minister Mirzoyan stressed the principle of sovereignty, equality of peoples and the right to self-determination, inviolability of state borders, non-use of force, and peaceful settlement of disputes by peaceful means.

The above was stressed in the context of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh. Considering the provisions of the November 9 trilateral statement, in particular the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees, the need to preserve the Armenian cultural and cultural heritage in the territories under the control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Minister Mirzoyan stressed that a comprehensive settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, would greatly contribute to the establishment of lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

A number of statements were adopted, which will be submitted to the CIS Council of Heads of State for approval. During the sitting, they also agreed on the 2022 multilevel consultations between the foreign ministries within the CIS.