Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian on Thursday met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The meeting took place within the framework of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers.

During their private conversation, the FMs discussed a wide range of issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, including the implementation of the provisions of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, as well as the January 11 trilateral statement and current events. In this context, FM Aivazian stressed the need to immediately return the Armenian POWs and detainees who are held on the Azerbaijani side in violation of the obligations provided for in the aforesaid tripartite statement.

Aivazian expressed serious concern over the deliberate attacks on Armenian cultural and religious monuments in the territories that are under the control of Azerbaijan, emphasizing the urgency of taking measures to protect this heritage.

Furthermore, the Armenian and Russian FMs discussed in detail the matters that are on the bilateral agenda of the Armenian-Russian allied cooperation, and the forthcoming schedule of high-level contacts. The parties exchanged views also on cooperation in a multilateral format.