21:38,

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS.  Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan announced that the meetings with Azerbaijan held in Washington, Brussels and Moscow give grounds for cautious optimism, ARMENPRESS reports, during the parliament-Cabinet Q&A session Mirzoyan stated that, understandably, there are no unimportant articles in the draft peace treaty, but if you group and divide the articles, one part concerns vital issues, the other part is more supplementary, or are arrangements arising from the main arrangements.

He noted that it is easier to come to a consensus and mutual understanding regarding that second group.

"It was possible to reach an agreement on several such articles in the pre-Washington negotiations. In the Washington negotiations, two more articles were added to the already agreed articles. By and large, nothing is finally agreed until everything is agreed. There is another group of articles where this mutual understanding and reaching a common denominator is visible, and there is a third group, and unfortunately this third group deals with the most vital issues, here the parties are quite far from reaching an agreement, but I can say that until today the last three rounds of negotiations give me at least a reason for cautious optimism. Yes, we are talking about the last meetings in Washington, Brussels, Moscow, and I hope they will continue in Moscow and Chișinău.

Even on the most important issues, much deeper, thorough discussions took place in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, which, I repeat, gives me a reason for cautious optimism," said the minister.

Mirzoyan also mentioned that the red line of the Armenian side is the recognition of the territorial integrity of Armenia, and also he does not imagine the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan, if the threat of ethnic cleansing continues to hang over the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Of course, we do not imagine that Armenia can normalize relations with Azerbaijan, have a long-term peace in the South Caucasus, if the threat of ethnic cleansing continues to hang over the head of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, if the issues of security, guaranteeing all their rights are not addressed. There are these and other red lines, and the negotiations in those directions are ongoing," Mirzoyan noted.