Good afternoon.

I am pleased to welcome Edgars Rinkevics, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs who is in Armenia on an official visit. In January of this year I was in Riga and now I am pleased to host my Latvian counterpart in Yerevan.

Today we had an opportunity to continue our discussions over bilateral relations and regional issues. We mentioned with satisfaction that we have a good legal framework of bilateral relations; there are already 24 agreements signed between the two countries

We held reciprocal visits at the highest level. Last year, in response to the visit of the President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš, Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia, paid an official visit to Latvia during which important agreements were reached and a number of documents were signed.

Numerous visits took place at the level of different agencies. A protocol on holding of consultations between the two countries’ MFAs is signed. The next consultations are scheduled to be held at the beginning of the next year, i.e. in January.

The Speaker of the RA National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan received an invitation to visit Latvia and he schedules to pay that visit in the first half of the next year.

Friendship groups are functioning in both parliaments. We hope that the Latvian Parliament’s Friendship Group would sooner come to Armenia. An appropriate invitation was sent by Eduard Sharmazanov, who heads the Armenian Parliament’s Friendship Group. We have quite intensified our cultural ties.

Today we touched upon the possibility to increase the trade and economic volume, and we would still continue the discussions over that.

We exchanged views on a number of regional and global issues.

I informed my Latvian colleague about the efforts exerted towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We share the opinion and we agree that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, based on the principles of international law, exclusively through peaceful means, has no alternative, as proposed by the Co-Chair countries.

We touched upon the developments unrolling in the Middle East, as well as we talked about Iran.

Today we will have an opportunity to continue our talks during the working lunch, immediately after the press conference.

Question,H2, My question is addressed to the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Nalbandian, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister stated that his country has proposed a road map for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which actually is a “phased settlement” and it repeats the version circulated in the 90s. Is Armenia going to present its own road map?

Edward Nalbandian: First of all, let me say that the impression is that the person who did that statement remained with the information from the mid-90s and now he is trying to represent Azerbaijan’s position saying that it is what it was in 1995. Since 1995, 15-17 years have already passed and the train has moved on and some people in Azerbaijan were left in the station. I guess that they should run in order to reach the train, because the train is moving on. The international community has already proposed a road map in Kazan. It is about the fundamental principles of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which were presented by the Co-Chair countries.

I want to remind you that after Kazan Summit, in Deauville the Presidents of the United States, Russia and France called upon the sides to accept those proposals.
But you know that it was impossible to achieve a progress in Kazan, as Azerbaijan refused those proposals.

I do not think that the question of some new road map proposed by Azerbaijan is serious, especially if it is about a 17-years old proposal. Had that 17 years-old proposed road map had any meaning, then at that time it would have been possible to move forward on that basis.

It is needed to be more realistic and to have serious approach over the international community’s proposals, which are presented by the Co-Chairs.

Those proposals were presented in Kazan, as well as appropriate statements were made on presidential level in Los Cabos, Deauville, Muskoka and L'Aquila. We should move forward on the basis of those proposals. Regarding the Armenian position on those proposals, it has repeatedly and unequivocally been presented many times.

Question, Public Radio: my question is for the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mister Nalbandian, you accompanied President Serzh Sargsyan during his trip to France. What is your assessment on the visit?

Edward Nalbandian: I think that media extensively covered that visit and its results. I may add that the trip was exhaustive, effective and as always very warm. This is the fourth visit of the President Serzh Sargsyan to France. During that visit, meetings were held with the French President, Prime Minister, President of the Senate and President of the National Assembly. There were meetings with the members of the friendship groups of the National Assembly and Senate, as well. I would like to mention that those friendship groups are the biggest in the French National Assembly and Senate.

As you now, we paid a visit to Lyon, where the Mayor provided quite a warm reception. We had meetings with the Armenians living in Lyon and the Lyon region, attended by more than 1500 people. According to the Municipality the number of the attendees reached 1900. The Armenians living in Lyon provided very warm reception in honor of the Armenian President.

We had an important meeting with the business circles in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lyon. We attach great importance to the development of economic relations with France which is the second investor in Armenia. Today there are 155 companies with French capital functioning in Armenia. We pay a special attention to the decentralized cooperation with France. In that regard, the Lyon visit was quite important.

There are almost thirty cities and regions of France and Armenia which are tied with brotherhood and have agreements for cooperation. The relations with France are unique and that visit gave another opportunity to underline the reciprocal willingness and commitment to do the utmost to continue the heightening of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries which is on top level. Next year, we are expecting France’s President Hollande to pay a state visit to Armenia which would definitely be an important point in the further development of our relations.