On April 1, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau, who is in Yerevan on a working visit.

Prior to the extended meeting of the two delegations, the two Ministers had a tête-à-tête conversation.

At the meeting in extended format, Foreign Minister Mirzoyan presented the situation created as a result of the invasion of the Azerbaijani armed forces into Parukh village of Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent areas, which began on March 24.

Foreign Minister of Armenia, in particular, noted: "The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh continues to stay extremely tense, because Azerbaijan continues its invasion into the Parukh village of Nagorno-Karabakh in the area of responsibility of the peacekeeping forces of Russia." In this context, the need for the return of the Azerbaijani armed forces to their initial positions of March 23 and the full preservation of the ceasefire regime was emphasized.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia noted that in the last months before the armed invasion, the Azerbaijani authorities conducted a consistent policy of psychological pressure on the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, obstructing the normal operation of vital infrastructures, and targeting the civilian population, with an objective to subject Artsakh to complete ethnic cleansing. "The created situation also requires immediate steps to be undertaken by the OSCE presidency and the international community in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis, as well as to ensure the direct and unhindered involvement of international humanitarian organizations in Nagorno-Karabakh," stressed Ararat Mirzoyan.

The position of Armenia on the launch of negotiations on a comprehensive peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan was also presented. In this context, the Foreign Minister of Armenia emphasized that Armenia is ready for the full resumption of the process of peaceful negotiation for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and within the framework of its mandate.

Reference was made to the humanitarian consequences of the 44-day war of 2020, in particular, the issue of the speedy repatriation of Armenian PoWs and civilian hostages illegally held in Azerbaijan, the destruction and vandalism of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories fallen under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

The sides discussed the prospects of deepening and strengthening cooperation between Armenia and Poland on bilateral and multilateral platforms.

The meeting was followed by the statements for the press of the Foreign Ministers.