Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting cancelled because of Baku's stance - Armenian parliament speaker

YEREVAN. Oct 25 (Interfax) - There will be no meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels at the end of October because of the stance adopted by Baku, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan said.

"There has been no such statement [on the impossibility of the meeting] for our part. I assume that was done by the Azerbaijani side," Simonyan told reporters on Wednesday.

EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar said earlier on Wednesday that the meeting of European Council President Charles Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev would not be held at the end of October because of a lack of time. He also said that the European Union was working to arrange another meeting.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan agreed that Baku's stance had caused the meeting's cancellation. "Obviously, the Azerbaijani president did not find time [for the meeting]. We are still ready to attend. Hopefully, time is the real problem, and a new date for the meeting can be agreed upon shortly," Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in Yerevan on Wednesday.

Armenia is ready to meet and remains committed to the peace agenda, Mirzoyan said. "Armenia is ready for the prompt continuation of the peace process, including towards signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan," he said.