The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved by force, Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said at an online meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government on Friday, responding to the Azerbaijani prime minister’s remarks.

Addressing the meeting, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov reiterated that the “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a thing of the past, and currently there are two economic regions in Azerbaijan – Karabakh and East Zangezur.”

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved by force. The settlement of the conflict can only be achieved through peaceful negotiations, exclusively under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship,” Grigoryan stressed.

He called on Azerbaijan to abandon aggressive rhetoric and hostile actions to achieve peaceful development in the region.