The ice must be broken in relations with Azerbaijan. The speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, expressed such a view while speaking with reporters Friday.

Commenting on reports that the president of Azerbaijan does not plan to travel to the Armenian capital Yerevan to attend the European Political Community summit next spring, Simonyan began his remarks by quoting his Azerbaijani counterpart, who had assured that there was no issue regarding her visit to Armenia and that her absence from the Euronest meeting in Yerevan was related to Azerbaijan’s relations with that organization itself.

Simonyan assured that Armenia expects all presidents to attend the aforesaid summit. “Ah, you single out the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey. I consider it unnecessary to single out the neighbors. They are our neighbors,” Simonyan said. Also, he expressed confidence that all countries that have regularly attended the summit will participate in this important event.

Taking the topic further, Simonyan assured that Azerbaijani delegations will come to Armenia, and the Armenian delegations will go to Azerbaijan. It should be noted that prior to the escalation initiated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in 2016, delegations from both countries participated in events held in Yerevan and Baku.

Simonyan noted that problematic issues remain, primarily the matter of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan. “Connections will continue and deepen. When I say ‘we,’ I mean that, in my impression, our Azerbaijani colleagues share this view,” Simonyan said.

“The ice must be broken, at least at the interparliamentary level; we intend to resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” added the speaker of the Armenian parliament.