Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Friday the talks he held with the leaders of regional rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan in southern Russia had been “constructive” and produced a collection of agreements on key points.
Meetings with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev within the metropolis of Sochi lasted almost three hours and marked the primary anniversary of the Moscow-Broked peace settlement, which ended combating within the separatist area of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In remarks after the assembly, Putin mentioned the three leaders “agreed on a whole lot of issues” that he considers “important”.
Both Aliyev and Pashinyan echoed Putin’s optimistic evaluation. Azerbaijan’s president mentioned the talks had been “open” and “genuine”, and the Armenian prime minister known as it “positive”.
Putin held two separate bilateral conferences with Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday earlier than and after the three-way talks.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a decades-old dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a area that lies inside Azerbaijan however has been beneath the management of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist conflict led to 1994.
The Azerbaijani military defeated the Armenian military within the fall of 2020 in 44 days of fierce combating, which ended with the Russo-Dalal peace settlement, through which Azerbaijan gained management of a big a part of Nagorno-Karabakh and all areas managed by Armenian forces. retrieved. outdoors the separatist zone
Russia has deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers for at the least 5 years to supervise the peace deal.
The peace settlement was celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan however was seen as a betrayal by the opposition in Armenia. The Pashinians defended it as the one option to forestall the Armenian military from shedding management over the whole Nagorno-Karabakh area.
The 2020 deal envisages a transport hall by Armenia that might hyperlink Azerbaijan with its territory of the Nakhchivan area, a plan angered by the Armenian opposition, which additionally fears that the deliberate demarcation of the border will hurt Armenians. pursuits could also be compromised.
Beginning Friday’s assembly with Pashinyan and Aliyev, Putin mentioned Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia had “achieved a lot” within the yr because the peace deal was signed. He mentioned there had been no large-scale combating, some 53,000 refugees had returned to their properties and that Russian peacekeepers had been guaranteeing the security of Nagorno-Karabakh residents.
In their inaugural speech, each Aliyev and Pashinyan mentioned that they had been prepared to start work on the demarcation and demarcation of the border.
Pashinian, nonetheless, mentioned the scenario on the border and in Nagorno-Karabakh “is not as stable as one would like” and added that “dozens of people on both sides” have been killed in clashes over the previous yr. He known as the scenario on the border a “crisis”.
“Our assessment is that Azerbaijani forces have infiltrated the sovereign territory of Armenia,” he mentioned.
The Armenian prime minister additionally mentioned that the problem of prisoners of conflict, hostages and different prisoners held stays unresolved.
In return, Aliyev mentioned that the Azerbaijani authorities have publicly supplied to start work on an acceptable peace treaty with Armenia “to end the conflict, recognize each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and protect the neighbors in the future.” To dwell as, (or) study to dwell as neighbors once more.”
He additionally mentioned on Friday that Azerbaijan has handed over 100 prisoners of conflict to Armenia since final yr’s combating in Nagorno-Karabakh.
After the assembly, Putin mentioned that the three leaders agreed to delineate and demarcate the border between the 2 international locations, earlier than the top of the yr.
They additionally mentioned “unblocking transport corridors, which include both railways and roads,” and made “significant progress” on unspecified humanitarian points, Putin mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
