Advancing our interests within the framework of the new realities emerging in the region by ensuring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and international law has become a priority.

APA reports that this was announced in the press release of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the results of 2022.

It was noted that as a result of the termination of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict with the tripartite declaration of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia dated November 10, 2020, the establishment of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition and respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and state borders 2022 In , one of the main directions of foreign policy was:

"As a result of continuous, consistent and purposeful steps during the year, the peace agenda promoted by Azerbaijan was accepted by the international community, during this period contacts with the mediation and organization of international partners were advanced in the format of direct bilateral negotiations with Armenia on the basis of the agenda promoted by Azerbaijan.

The normalization agenda is based on three main directions, such as the preparation of a peace treaty that will determine the basis of bilateral relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the delimitation of the state border, and the restoration of transport and communication links between the two states.

In this context, in accordance with the proposal of Azerbaijan to sign a peace agreement in 2021, as part of the main developments, the basic principles of the peace agreement were prepared by Azerbaijan and presented to Armenia in February of this year. it is possible to mention the beginning of practical negotiations on the text of the peace agreement, which will form the basis of future relations, as well as the establishment of relevant commissions on both sides on border delimitation and the holding of meetings of these commissions on a bilateral basis.

Meetings between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia with the participation of the President of the Council of the European Union (EU) Sh. Michel on April 6, May 22 and August 31, 2022 in Brussels, and on February 4, 2022 with the participation of Sh. Michel and French President E. Macron virtual, on October 6 in Prague, on October 31 in Sochi with the participation of the Russian leader - a total of 7 meetings were held.

A total of 3 meetings were held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a bilateral format on July 16, 2022 in Tbilisi, October 2 in Geneva, and November 7 in Washington.

In addition, on April 11 and 23, 2022, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia had two direct telephone conversations, and once - on October 4, 2022, with the participation of the US Secretary of State.

At the same time, meetings were held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Dushanbe on May 12, with the participation of the Russian foreign minister in Astana on October 14, in New York on September 19, and in Washington on November 7 with the participation of the US secretary of state.

In the statement adopted as a result of the Brussels meeting between the Leaders on August 31, it was agreed to prepare the text of the Agreement in the direction of advancing the agenda of the peace agreement, to take forward steps in the issues of border delimitation.

In accordance with this agreement, on October 2, Azerbaijan presented the elements of the peace agreement to the other side, and 2 meetings were held (in Geneva and Washington) on negotiations in this direction.

The December 23 Moscow meeting, the third in number, was postponed due to the non-participation of the Armenian side.

As a result of the discussions held during the year, state commissions were established on both sides of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border line delimitation and demarcation process, and three meetings of the two countries were held on May 24, August 30, and November 3, 2022, respectively, at the conventional state border of the two countries, in Moscow and Brussels. was held.

On June 3 and December 6, 2022, the 10th and 11th meetings of the Trilateral Working Group on opening regional communications took place in Moscow.

The issue of particular importance was the mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the meetings held in Prague on October 6 and Sochi on October 31, respectively, and the commitment to resolve all disputed issues between the two countries on this basis.

This is the basis of the normalization of relations between the two countries, as reflected in the basic principles put forward by Azerbaijan, and the acceptance of this commitment by Armenia is an important development in terms of advancing the post-conflict agenda during the year.

In accordance with the obligations under the Tripartite Declaration, the Azerbaijani side completed the construction of the new Lachin road ahead of time, illegally settled Armenians were removed from the city of Lachin, Zabukh and Sus villages, and these areas were returned to Azerbaijan.

In addition, during the year, measures were taken to prevent illegal economic activity in the territories of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed.

Through dialogue, the government of Azerbaijan has taken a number of steps to eliminate the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in the area, including serious environmental consequences.

On December 3 and 7, meetings were held between the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan and the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in order to determine the conditions for the on-site inspection of Azerbaijani experts to monitor and evaluate the ecological consequences of the illegal exploitation of the Kyzylbulag and Demirli deposits.

Following the agreement reached, the visit of the delegation of Azerbaijani specialists organized by the peacekeepers was hindered by the pre-planned and organized actions of a group of people.

This caused the rightful protest of the Azerbaijani public, a group of civil society representatives protested against the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources,

they started a peaceful demonstration on the Lachin road with the demand of transporting these resources from Azerbaijan to Armenia and preventing abuse of the Lachin road, which is intended only for humanitarian purposes.

In this direction, diplomatic efforts have been continued in the direction of preventing baseless and biased claims against Azerbaijan.

Although the restoration of transport communications in the region, in this context, in accordance with the tripartite statement dated November 10, 2020, activities to ensure unhindered travel between the main part of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan are being continued within the framework of the relevant working group, the non-constructive position of the Armenian side due to this, it was not possible to achieve serious progress in this field.

In general, despite the partial dynamics of bilateral contacts in the direction of normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan during the post-conflict period, the progress achieved in all three directions of normalization did not meet expectations.

The main reason for this is Armenia's failure to show the necessary political will to take real steps in the direction of normalization of relations, its contradictory and inconsistent position, its continuous efforts to avoid the implementation of the agreements and obligations it has undertaken, especially its political and military provocations in order to attack the normalization efforts. does.

At the same time, there are tendencies to prolong the process in the proposals on the text of the peace agreement.