The Armenian side is ready to meet with Azeri counterparts, but will be waiting for development until December, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni in Yerevan.
The Foreign Minister said he will meet with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council session in Hamburg December 8-9, but did not confirm the meeting with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
“Of course, we are ready to participate in meetings, but everything will depend on the developments before Hamburg, because, as a rule, Azerbaijan aggravates the situation in the conflict zone before meetings, and has now declared about large-scale military actions that will involve the whole potential of the Armed Forces – 60 thousand troops, tanks, missiles, aviation, etc. This is an obvious violation of the Vienna document,” Minister Nalbandian said.
The Foreign Minister described it as a “provocative step” ahead of the Ministerial Council session in Hamburg.  Besides, he said, the intensity of the ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani side has also increased.
Edward Nalbandian reminded about the numerous statements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs that the conflict should be solved on the basis of the three principles of international law – non-use of force or the threat of force, the right of peoples to self-determination and territorial integrity. “Any attempt to separate the principles will make the settlement of the conflict impossible. Baku should decide whether it really wants to continue the negotiations in this format. On one hand, they say ready to participate in meetings, on the other hand, they speak against the Co-Chairs’ proposals, which form the basis of settlement,” Minister Nalbandian stated.
Otherwise, he said, the simple participation in becoming an imitation on the part of Azerbaijan. “Vivid examples of this are the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg. They participated in the summits, but it gave nothing.”
“Baku has been refusing to call the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits to life. Moreover, it has been doing the utmost to prevent their implementation. Those who had doubts that Azerbaijan can resort to an abrupt aggravation of the situation, got clear proofs in early April, when Azerbaijan unleashed large-scale military actions,” Minister Nalabndian said.