For the first time, the Munich Security Conference hosted a meeting of the leaders of all three republics of the South Caucasus - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. The topic of the meeting was the future of the region - ensuring security and stable peace, which guarantees universal development.

Today, the Munich Security Conference hosted a panel discussion "Moving mountains? Ensuring security in the South Caucasus", which was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. It should be noted that Pashinyan was included in the list of participants at the last moment, after a meeting with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Azerbaijan's position

Ilham Aliyev, opening the discussion, stressed that the event is historic, since for the first time the leaders of all three South Caucasian republics gathered at one international platform for direct dialogue.

The President of Azerbaijan stressed that at present, the geopolitics in the world has completely changed, and there are both disadvantages for traditional trade relations and opportunities for new development of transport infrastructure in the region. He drew attention to the fact that many traffic flows, having changed their previous direction, now go through Azerbaijan, which actively investing in regional infrastructure.

Speaking about political relations in the South Caucasus, Ilham Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan and Armenia are obliged to demonstrate to the whole globe the possibility of ending violence, to sign a peace treaty and thus set an example of how to turn the tragic pages of history.

Armenia’s lies 

Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, did not speak about peace, but began to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan, voicing fake accusations of the Lachin road "blockade", along which dozens of cars with humanitarian aid and civilians pass daily. Russian peacekeepers do not let through only weapons and militants, which Yerevan previously smuggled to the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan.

It is noteworthy that the moderator of the discussion, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, did not give Ilham Aliyev an opportunity to refute Nikol Pashinyan's lie, but instead demanded that the ‘blockade" of the Lachin road to be completed, though, in reality the road is not blocked.

Shortly thereafter, the open part of the discussion was curtailed, and the broadcast of the event was stopped.

Vestnik Kavkaza reported earlier that the personal meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan in Munich lasted only 60 minutes. During these negotiations, the Azerbaijani leader proposed to establish a checkpoint on the border of the two countries in the Lachin and Zangezur corridors.

Source - vesnikkavkaza.net

20 February 2023 / 13:13