Day: April 18, 2024

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Brice Roquefeuil, Head of the Directorate for Continental Europe of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. In particular, reference was made to the steps taken towards the implementation of joint programs in the economy, infrastructure development, humanitarian spheres.

The interlocutors touched on issues of regional importance, including the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, the steps taken by the Armenian government to solve the humanitarian problems of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh. The sides exchanged thoughts regarding the “Crossroads of Peace” project of the Armenian government.

Issues related to Armenia-European Union cooperation were also addressed.

The Brussels process has been completely transparent and will remain so, Spokesperson for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ani Badalyan said in response to media questions.

The comments come in the wake of various conspiratorial media reports about the Armenia-EU-US high-level meeting held in Brussels on April 5. In particular, the Azerbaijani media outlets published a document allegedly agreed upon in Brussels on April 5.

“In fact, the meeting held in Brussels was focused on the resilience of Armenia and the diversification of its economy. There has been a lot of fuss about the topic, which does not correspond to reality. The document published in the Azerbaijani media is fake, such issues were not on the agenda of the Brussels meeting,” the Spokesperson said.

“The complete agenda of the topics discussed in Brussels is set out in the joint press release distributed following the meeting. Any statement made outside the agenda of the press release is false. There was no hidden agenda at the Brussels meeting,” she said.

Badalyan stressed that the Brussels process has been completely transparent and will remain so.

A document circulated in Azerbaijani media alleges that the United States will allegedly provide assistance to develop the military and defense potential of Armenia. It further claims that Russian border guards in Armenia are expected to be replaced, including on the Iranian border, and the EU will help Yerevan in creating defense infrastructure on the border with Azerbaijan.