On March 16, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan received the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Republic of Armenia, Jesús Rafael Salazar Velásquez, on the occasion of handing over a copy of his credentials (residence: Moscow).

Congratulating on his appointment, the Deputy Foreign Minister wished the Ambassador success in his difficult and responsible work.

Within the framework of the meeting, the interlocutors touched upon the opportunities to develop the bilateral agenda, and emphasised the importance of expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including on multilateral platforms.

Paruyr Hovhannisyan briefed on the daily deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin corridor and the recent developments. The importance of the decision made by the International Court of Justice on February 22 was highlighted, where along with others, Azerbaijan is obliged to take all necessary measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin ցorridor in both directions. The Deputy Minister also briefed upon the vision of Armenia in the normalisation process of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.