Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today received Foreign Minister of Sweden, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde.

The Prime Minister welcomed Linde’s visit to Armenia, congratulated her on assuming her mission and wished her success. Pashinyan attached importance to the close cooperation with the OSCE for ensuring stability and security, emphasized that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible within the scope of the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group and, in this context, attached importance to the need for intensification of the activities of the Minsk Group. In this regard, the Prime Minister stressed the need for specification of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and exercise by the Armenians of Artsakh of their right to self-determination.

The Prime Minister stressed that there are still many issues to solve, including the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, humanitarian issues, the rights of Armenians of Artsakh, preservation of cultural heritage and, in this regard, indicated the major role of the OSCE. He emphasized that the return of prisoners of war remains a major priority, adding that, based on the Armenian side’s understanding, the eighth provision in the statement signed on November 9, 2020 must be implemented without preconditions, but Azerbaijan continues to keep Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages in captivity.

As the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Linde attached importance to the work of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group and the efforts of her Personal Representative for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and added that the OSCE and the international community play a major role in addressing the current situation and helping the sides find paths to resolve the issue. Simultaneously, Linde attached importance to respect for international humanitarian law and the solutions to humanitarian issues.