The Kazakh authorities, while organizing the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov in Almaty, will not act as a mediator in the negotiations. Aybek Smadiarov, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Kazakhstan, announced this in a press briefing Monday, TASS reports.
"We [i.e. Kazakhstan] are planning such negotiations in Almaty. We are now in contact with our colleagues in Azerbaijan and Armenia. The upcoming negotiations will be held exclusively between the parties. I would like to point out that it is not about Astana's mediation, we provide only goodwill services, so-called ‘good offices,’" said Smadiarov.
The Kazakh MFA spox reminded that during his recent visits to Azerbaijan and Armenia, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had noted the importance of establishing a strong long-term peace between these countries. Also, Tokayev had announced Kazakhstan's readiness to provide assistance by providing a platform for negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
