Kazakhstan to not act as mediator in Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs' meeting

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.