Baku will not talk with "Vardanyan sent by Moscow"

Baku/17.11.22/Turan: Baku is conducting a dialogue with the Armenians of Karabakh, and not with Vardanyan sent by Moscow, the issue of the Armenians of Karabakh will not be included in the peace treaty, if not for external forces, this process would be more dynamic, President Ilham Aliyev  stated during a meeting with the European Union's special envoy for the Eastern Partnership, Dirk Schuebelt, and members of his delegation.

The guest stated that the EU intends to actively develop cooperation with Azerbaijan. The delegation is ready to discuss the renewal and modernization of the Eastern Partnership.

“We know that in the current geopolitical situation, new ideas, new incentives, special approaches are needed, and this is one of the reasons why we are here,” Schubelt said. He also expressed the EU's interest in speeding up the signing of a new agreement with Azerbaijan. Informing about the trip to Yerevan, Schubert said that Armenia is also interested in achieving peace.

Aliyev, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation with the EU in the political, economic, energy, humanitarian and other spheres. “As for the Eastern Partnership, Azerbaijan strongly supported it from the very beginning of this program and actively participated in various events,” Aliyev said and agreed that the Eastern Partnership needs to be modernized.

“Because more than ten years have passed since the creation of this program, and the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership have made their choice. Some signed the Association Agreement, others joined the Eurasian Economic Union. Azerbaijan is the only country that has not joined any of the formats,” Aliyev said, hinting that Baku does not need either one or the other.

As for the signing a bilateral agreement with the European Union, it has been agreed upon by 90%. "The process is slow, as there are issues that require political will on both sides," Aliyev said, adding that Azerbaijan could not sign agreements "that could cause economic difficulties in the medium or long term."

Touching upon the issue of the conflict, Aliyev questioned the sincerity of Yerevan in the matter of settlement. “We have heard such statements all these years, they were not sincere. They wanted peace without returning our lands. So we had to resolve the conflict by force.”

“Today's talk about the world is a form of manipulation. If they really wanted peace, they would have responded to our proposal,” Aliyev said. According to him, Armenia is trying to include in the peace treaty issues related to the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan. “This will not happen, this is impossible, we will not agree,” Aliyev said.

He noted that Azerbaijan is ready to discuss issues of their rights and security with the Karabakh Armenians. “We are ready to talk with the Armenians living in Karabakh, but not with people sent by Moscow like Vardanyan, who stole billions from the Russian people. He's sent from Moscow with a very clear agenda. We are ready to talk to people who live in Karabakh and want to live there. By the way, this process has begun. If there were no intervention from some of the countries I just mentioned, and if there were no attempts to stop this process, then the process could be more dynamic. But this has nothing to do with Pashinyan and his government. As I said, there should be a consensus between Azerbaijan, the European Union, the United States and Russia, that is, between those countries and institutions that Azerbaijan considers capable of helping in this matter,” Aliyev said. ---06B---