Nalbandian: Thanks to consistent work, Armenia`s positions in the  settlement of Karabakh conflict have significantly strengthened

ArmInfo.The peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was and remains one of the priorities of the Armenian foreign policy. This is stated in the article of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on the occasion of the Day of the diplomat.

"We constantly expressed support for the format of the OSCE Minsk  Group and were able to neutralize Baku's attempts to change and move  the settlement to other formats." In recent years, in the process of  resolving the conflict, there have been conceptual changes,  "Nalbandian said.

At the same time, he stressed a number of documents that are of key  importance in the settlement process, including 5 statements adopted  at the level of the heads of state of the mediator countries after  2009, where the indivisibility and unity of the elements and  principles for the settlement of the conflict was underscored.  He  reminded that Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, expressed readiness to  continue negotiations on the settlement of the conflict on their  basis.

According to Nalbandian, if Azerbaijan over the years argues that the  conflict should be resolved only on the basis of the principle of  territorial integrity, then the heads of the co-chairing countries,  these statements stressed - the conflict will be resolved on the  basis of three well-known principles. "The countries of the mediators  have clearly stressed that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must decide  on the status of Artsakh based on the will of the people having  binding international force, even the Azerbaijani leader admits that  he is under pressure from behind closed doors on the recognition of  Nagorno-Karabakh as there is a land link between Armenia and Artsakh,  and a lot of security guarantees, "the Armenian minister said.

At the same time, he stressed that thanks to the diplomacy of  Armenia, after the aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh in April  2016, at summits in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva it was again  stressed that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the  conflict. According to him, in response to Azerbaijan's attempts to  withdraw from the armistice and ceasefire agreements of 1994-95,  Armenia and the mediators stress the need for their unquestioning  implementation.