Russia: Pashinyan and Aliyev talk of progress despite falling out in front of Putin

There was tension during the tripartite meeting with Vladimir Putin between Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, who blamed each other for the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, although they later spoke of progress in their relations.

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan said before the start of their talks in Moscow on Thursday that progress is being made in the process of normalizing their relations, after mutual recognition of their territorial integrity.

They exchanged accusations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev speak before beginning their talks under the auspices of Russian President Vladimir Putin (photo, top, by Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/via Reuters).

They met separately with the Russian head of state before the start of the tripartite discussion last night. There was tension, with the two leaders exchanging accusations about the situation in front of the Russian president.

Baku and Yerevan have been embroiled in a decades-long conflict over control of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, a predominantly Armenian enclave.

“It is possible to reach a peace agreement, since Armenia has officially recognized it [Ναγκόρνο] Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan,” Mr. Aliyev stressed at the Eurasian Economic Union, an organization led by Russia.

“Azerbaijan does not make any territorial claims against Armenia,” he added.

“Relationship smoothing”

Mr. Pashinyan confirmed that the two countries “are moving towards the normalization of their relations, on the basis of mutual recognition of their territorial integrity.”

He assured that Armenia is ready to “lift the blockade of all transportation connections in the region that pass through Armenian territory.”

Mr Putin said the trio would discuss “very important and delicate issues” such as “lifting the blockade of transport routes”.

“In my opinion, despite the difficulties and problems that persist, and there are quite a few, overall the situation is moving toward resolution,” added the Russian president.

He clarified that the vice-presidents of the governments will meet in a week in Moscow in order to “resolve the outstanding issues” for the opening of transport connections between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Western involvement

Among the outstanding issues is the status and rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two countries sought to negotiate a peace agreement with the help of the European Union and the US.

On May 14, during a meeting organized in Brussels by European Council President Charles Michel, they agreed to proceed with mutual recognition of their territorial integrity.

The West’s diplomatic involvement in the Caucasus is causing intense discomfort in Russia, a traditional power in the region. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said earlier yesterday that the West was trying to get involved in the conflict and discredit his country’s peacekeeping policy.

Two wars

The two former Soviet republics of the Caucasus were involved in two wars, in the 1990s and 2020, over control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

After a six-week war in autumn 2020, in which Azerbaijan recaptured territory controlled by Armenia for decades, Baku and Yerevan signed an agreement brokered by Moscow.

Since then, Russian soldiers have guaranteed peacekeeping in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia has been complaining for months that the mission is ineffective.

Source: RES

Follow in.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news