Fuad Huseynaliyev: Expecting results soon from meeting FMs of Azerbaijan and Armenia would be naive

It would be naive to expect results soon from the meeting of the heads of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Fuad Huseynaliyev, director of Report Information Agency, told ARB 24 TV while commenting on the meeting held in Berlin between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan.

According to him, some serious progress can be achieved at the meeting between the ministers, but the public will be informed about it a little later:

"Because if there is progress, a lot of work needs to be done to create the impression that the peace agreement has reached the signing stage. The meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia hasn’t been held for a long time. This meeting also took place after a long break. In advance, the peace proposals of the two countries were discussed online. Now the meeting of the ministers will go over all the issues and allow approval. In any case, the peace agreement should be signed by President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan."

Huseynaliyev recalled that the Azerbaijani side did not participate in the Granada meeting:

"We have clearly stated the reason for this. France was at the negotiating table, and President Ilham Aliyev did not go to Granada because this country wanted to position itself as a mediator. The Azerbaijani side said that if France is present, then Türkiye should be present as well. Other participants, as well as Armenia, objected to this. Therefore, Azerbaijan did not participate in the meeting in Granada and did not sign any statement. Pashinyan's reference to the meeting in Granada is a message to his patrons, an attempt to appease his public. Pashinyan wants to say that although it is Germany instead of France, the Granada line continues. But it seems that Germany was chosen as a location. The German foreign minister does not participate in the discussions. Later, some conversations can be held at dinner, but the German minister did not participate in the official discussion between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

The director of the agency recalled that President Ilham Aliyev received a large delegation from Germany on February 28 and said that important messages were given at the meeting:

"Germany has demonstrated that it can be a neutral mediator compared to other countries. Unlike Paris, Berlin does not arm Armenia and does not take steps in this regard. We already had close relations with Germany. Our economic and political cooperation was at a high level. But one of the deputies who spoke against Azerbaijan in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was a German. That deputy is a member of the party led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz. Germany should clarify this first. We need to clarify whether the views voiced in PACE are the general position of Germany or the individual opinion of one MP. President Ilham Aliyev also noted that if the rights of our delegation are not restored in PACE within a year, we can seriously consider the issue of our complete withdrawal from the Council of Europe. I think that the processes to be clarified with Germany are in this direction. That is, after the speeches at the PACE, could the official Berlin take a stance against Azerbaijan? Or do we forget that period and look to the future?"