We had tonight a significant meeting with President Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. It was the occasion to have a frank and open dialogue on the current situation in the region. The EU is committed - we want to play a positive, a useful role for more stability, for more security, for more prosperity in this region. We also want to support the humanitarian gestures that are needed also in order to strengthen confidence-building measures on both sides. We are also ready to support all the positive efforts together with other actors. We have always supported the OSCE Minsk group and we support all the efforts that are made in order to make a progress for more stability, for more security. Together we have demonstrated that direct talks are useful and are needed even on difficult topics. Of course there are difficult questions, there are difficult topics. But the first step question if we want to make progress is certainly to listen to each other, to understand very well what are different opinions, what are different views, to clarify sometimes the different arguments. I sincerely hope and I am convinced that this meeting was extremely useful and I am confident it is possible in the short-term in the mid-term to maintain this level of direct contacts between those countries. Also, I would like to reiterate the readiness and the commitment of EU to play this role, to play this part together with all the partners, because we have clear vision, we have clear goals. We hope it is possible to have more stability, more prosperity and more security in the region. And finally we have tomorrow the Eastern Partnership summit. We intend to propose a huge financial package of investments and we hope that it could be a leverage in order to enhance the cooperation among the countries of this region.
You know the last month I spoke on very regular bases with both leaders by phone but also I decided to travel to Yerevan and to Baku, I had one to one meetings with these leaders, and I understand, I know that connectivity, the communications - this is a priority. And of course it is important to make sure that there is a level of trust that we clarify what are different positions. But to be very clear although railways, for example and agreement was made tonight, because it was very clear that the effort of common understanding on what is needed in order to reopen these communication lines on the highways. This is also an important topic. We together we have identified what are the questions that we need to work on in the short term, in mid-term in order to make progress. And I am confident. I am really confident because even if some questions are difficult, and this is not a secret, I am confident because I feel that this very long meeting four hours and a half, it is a very good occasion in order to make sure there is a mutual understanding. It doesn’t mean that we agree on everything but this means and there is a common political will to make the effort in order to have a better understanding and to see how we can strengthen the level of cooperation and also how we can try to address the different challenges we are facing.
This is always important to speak directly. Because if we take into account the statements that are made to the press, of course this is important, this is the rhetoric. But this is very important to speak directly. And I am convinced that the value of such a meeting in person is huge, this is big, and I am convinced that after the meeting in person this meeting today I am convinced the occasion in the near future to have other direct contacts between those leaders, which is very useful. And you know a few weeks ago we succeeded in very humble to play a positive role in order to make possible the direct line at the level of the ministers of defense, in order to try to prevent possible incidents or to manage incidents, if there would be some difficulties in order to avoid further escalations. And those direct contacts on the level of the leaders this is very important, I think, in order to maximize the chance for more stability and more security.
This is true, indeed, because I thought that it is important for me to help, to support, to encourage, but this is also very important for them. This was an occasion to speak directly.
For the topic, for the question of the railways, there is an agreement of on the principle of reciprocity with the borders and custom control. This was the railway and we discussed the topics of highways and the question of those infrastructures that are needed in order to improve the connectivity and understand that we have, they have clarified the topics that we need to work on in the next weeks and months.
