Armenia: No Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting is scheduled

PanARMENIAN.Net - Moscow welcomes the "wish" of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet in Moscow, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Wednesday, October 21, according to TASS.

Also Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister's spokeswoman Mane Gevorgyan told PanARMENIAN.Net that no meeting between PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is scheduled.

"[Rudenko's] announcement is probably based on statements made by the Armenian Prime Minister and the Azerbaijani President in previous interviews," Gevorgyan said.

"In his interview, the Prime Minister expressed readiness and theoretically did not rule out that a meeting might be held in Moscow or some other place. At the moment, though, there is no reason to say that a specific day or place for a meeting has been agreed upon."

Pashinyan and Aliyev expressed readiness to travel to Moscow for finding a solution for the conflict. The Azerbaijani President, however, put forward a number of preconditions before the start of possible negotiations.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey and Syrian and Libyan mercenaries deployed by Ankara, started a war against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. Foreign and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages.

Donations can be made to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, which has launched a fundraising campaign to support humanitarian efforts in Karabakh.