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“Our partners in Baku should finally realize that Armenia and the [OSCE Minsk Group] Co-Chairing states speak the same language that there is no alternative to negotiations, war is not a way to resolve a conflict, thereby not ultimatums but only a dialogue may bring about peace,” President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an authored article in Russian “Izvestiya” newspaper published on Tuesday.

The article, entitled “Security and sustainable democratic development,” reflects on Armenia’s challenges and achievements seen in the course of 25 years of independence, focusing on the formation of the strong and well-established army, the consistently improving business and investment environment, military-technical cooperation and allied relations with Russia as well as the need for the peaceful settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) issue. 

“Armenia, as the guarantor of the security of the people of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, continues its consistent and constructive efforts in the OSCE Minsk Group format toward finding peaceful ways for the conflict settlements,” wrote President Sargsyan.

He pointed that the April four-day war unleashed by Azerbaijani in 2016 caused ‘considerable damage’ to the negotiation process and the efforts to create an atmosphere of trust for the sides. 

“The escalation across the Line lf Contact overnight to February 24-25, 2017, comes to demonstrate once again the importance of the implementation of the agreements about establishing mechanisms for the monitoring of the violations of the ceasefire regime reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg,” said President Sargsyan.

In the President’s assessment, the consensus formed for long years among the Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries, namely - Russia, France, and the United States speaks of the constructive platform established among these states within the Minsk Group format.

“We believe that the right to master one’s own destiny is an unquestionable component in the current world order,” Armenian President noted, adding the Artsakh Republic is a stable, democratic state, where competitive elections are held pursuant to its Electoral Code and the Constitution and democratic state institutions are developing. 

To remind, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will conduct a two-day official visit to the Russian Federation on March 14.

As the press department at the President’s Office reports, President Sargsyan will hold meetings with the highest leadership. During the high-level negotiations discussed will be pivotal issues of the bilateral agenda related to the cooperation of the strategic partners in the political, trade and economic, humanitarian, and cultural areas, as well as issues related to the integration processes in the Eurasian area.

According to the official release, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin will exchange views on the pressing international and regional issue and will discuss the NK peace process.