On June 13, the delegation of Armenia, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian, participated in the jubilee Ministerial Meeting to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The Ministerial Meeting was aimed at summarizing the activities undertaken since the signing of the Treaty and once again drawing the attention of the international community to the necessity of comprehensive nuclear test ban. During the meeting, the speakers reflected on irreversible negative humanitarian consequences of nuclear tests, expressing regret over the fact that up until now the Treaty has not entered into force, and called upon the states that have not ratified the Treaty to immediately join this international commitment. At the same time, the delegates attached great importance to comprehensive monitoring and verification system, developed under the Treaty, which, in fact, promotes the test ban.

In his remarks, Deputy FM Ashot Hovakimian attached significance to the mission of Preparatory Commission and reaffirmed Armenia's commitment to fully and comprehensively implement the Treaty. Deputy Foreign Minister Hovakimian commended the assistance in operating of an auxiliary seismic station at Garni since 2005, which forms part of the global network of IMS monitoring facilities, and transmits data via satellite to the International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, where the data are used to detect, locate and characterize events.

Ashot Hovakimian reaffirmed readiness of the RA Government to undertake open and transparent cooperation with all partner states and international organizations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He considered unacceptable Azerbaijan’s unfounded accusations spread in the most distorted and misleading manner, claiming that Armenia breaches its obligations on nuclear non-proliferation, which are directed only at shifting the international attention from the large-scale aggressive military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh and the gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by Azerbaijan, including against the civilian population.