YEREVAN. - Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly (NA) Ara Babloyan on Friday received Belarusian Ambassador to Armenia Igor Nazaruk.

Highlighting the role of parliamentary diplomacy in developing and deepening of the relations between parliaments and countries, Babloyan noted that the friendship group with Belarus has already been set at the Armenian parliament. He also underscored the significance of long years of relations, which are based on the cultural and spiritual similarities between Armenia and Belarus.

Referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the NA Speaker noted that as a civilized country, Armenia sees the settlement of the conflict exclusively through peaceful means within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Touching on the recent­ situation on the contact line and the death of young servicemen, Babloyan said: “The conflict resolution should take place at the negotiation table. The issues should be solved by pen and not by weapon. None of the sides should suffer losses”.

In this context, the Speaker thanked Belarus for its balanced stance.

Ambassador Igor Nazaruk, for his part, congratulated Ara Babloyan on being elected the NA Speaker and organizing fair and transparent elections.

Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Nazaruk noted that there is no alternative to the OSCE Minsk Group in the Karabakh conflict resolution. According to him, Belarus always stands for peaceful resolutions. The Ambassador also highlighted the importance of developing and deepening relations between the parliaments of the two countries, underscoring the need for supporting each other on international platforms.

At the end of the meeting, the sides referred to the Constitutional reforms in Armenia, the parliamentary system of governance and the activities of the friendship groups in the new parliament.