Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday met with Elina Valtonen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. The meeting took place within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

As a continuation of the phone call between the two FMs held at the end of August, Mirzoyan and Valtonen discussed in more detail the issues of expanding the bilateral agenda based on democratic values and priorities aimed at strengthening the rule of law. In this context, the willingness of both sides to form a more ambitious political agenda was emphasized.

The interlocutors touched also upon Armenia-EU cooperation. FM Mirzoyan commended the participation of Finland in the EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia.

The issues of regional security and stability were touched upon, too. Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan's nine-months-long illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and the violations of all fundamental rights of the 120,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The urgency of restoring unimpeded movement through the Lachin corridor in two directions in accordance with the legally binding Orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6 was emphasized. Stressing the messages delivered by the EU and its member states so far, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia stressed the need for clear steps to stop Azerbaijan's unconstructive pattern of behavior.