UN Secretary General holds phone call with Armenian President
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moom has held a phone call with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, according to the president's press-office.
Ban Ki-moon expressed regret for having to cancel his visit to Armenia for some emergency reasons. Addressing the Karabakh conflict, the UN Secretary General stressed the need for peaceful settlement of the conflict and expressed his full support to the OSCE Minsk Group.
President Serzh Sargsyan, in turn, said the Armenian public has been waiting for the UN Secretary General's visit for a long time already. The president expressed hope that the new mutually convenient date of the visit will be announced soon.
The April 25 visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon to the South Caucasus was cancelled as he had to travel to another place for some urgent issues. The date of the visit to the South Caucasus will be revised, Head of the Department of Public Information of the UN in Armenia Armine Halajyan told ArmInfo's correspondent referring to Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General. UN Secretary General was expected to visit Armenia in April 25, and then Tbilisi and Baku. To recall, Bank Ki-moon planned to attend the Seventh Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilisations to be held in Baku.
On April 20, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement saying that Armenia rejects the Seventh Forum, to be held in Baku, in its entirety, including its outcome.
"In this dire situation the convening of the Seventh Forum should have been cancelled in Azerbaijan - a country that grossly violates the very aims, principles, values of the Alliance of Civilizations. Armenia remains committed to the purposes of the Alliance and remains its Friend. However, given the circumstances. Armenia does not join the consensus on the Declaration of the Seventh Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations. Therefore, in the absence of consensus the Declaration cannot be adopted," the statement reads.