Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked Lithuania on Monday for its "balanced position" on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its role in the European Union's efforts to ease tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Following his meeting with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, Pashinyan told a joint news conference in Vilnius that he expected the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to continue to successfully mediate in resolving the conflict.
"I especially emphasised that a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be reached on the basis of the well-known principles supported by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs," he said.
"We support Lithuania's balanced and constructive position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and we also very much appreciate the humanitarian support that your government is providing."
Pashinyan noted that the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers had already met in New York under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and that Armenia had expressed its determination to start the border demarcation process, adding that he was ready to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"I am ready to meet with the Azerbaijani president in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the Armenian leader said.
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"Azerbaijan raised the minefield issue as a humanitarian threat. We have handed over some maps to Azerbaijan and, as I have said, I am ready to bring with me all such minefield maps indicating a humanitarian threat, because they do not play a fundamental security role for Armenia," he said.
Pashinyan described Lithuania as a "friendly country" for Armenia and a "key EU partner" supporting the Eastern Partnership policy, which "can play a key role in helping Armenia to develop its dialogue with the European Union".
According to him, the Armenian government is ready to seek "the peaceful development of our people and the region", but these efforts are hampered by "persistent violations of the ceasefire, the problems of the return of prisoners of war" and "inappropriate rhetoric that hinders the achievement of sustainable peace".
Pashinyan also thanked Šimonytė for Lithuania's donation of 50,000 doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine and invited her to pay a return visit to Armenia.
Šimonytė said that Lithuania "is ready to be a good friend of Armenia in the European Union" and to help secure the bloc's support for reforms in the region, and expressed hope for a " return as soon as possible to a political settlement of the conflict" under the auspices of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
"I believe that there is more than one leader in the EU leadership who genuinely cares about stability, peace and security in the region," she said. "I have no doubt that the EU will pay sufficient attention to this, and perhaps share some solutions, proposals or practical steps that could facilitate a settlement in practical terms," she said.
The two prime ministers discussed, among other issues, the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lithuania is providing expert assistance to Armenian medical workers and has donated a total of over 70,000 coronavirus vaccine shots to the country.
Šimonytė thanked Armenia for its assistance in tackling irregular migration challenges, in particular for sending interpreters to Lithuania to facilitate communication with asylum seekers.
She welcomed the planned launch of direct flights between Vilnius and Yerevan.
"I am very pleased that our capitals should soon be connected by direct flights, which should help our people to get to know each other's countries, and contribute to business relations and other ties that we have agreed to intensify," Šimonytė told the joint press conference.
As part of his official visit to Vilnius, Pashinyan was also to meet with President Gitanas Nausėda and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the speaker of the Seimas.
The visit comes as Lithuania and Armenia mark the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
Read more: How Baltics tried and failed to end war in Karabakh
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