YEREVAN – Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet next week for EU-mediated talks in Brussels, Armenia’s premier said on Thursday amid renewed tensions over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Both Yerevan and Baku recently expressed readiness to launch negotiations on a “comprehensive peace treaty,” following a flare-up in the enclave earlier this month.
“I plan to meet on April 6 in Brussels with the European Council President Charles Michel and Azerbaijani President” Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting.
He added that he hoped “to agree on all the questions related to the start of peace talks” with Baku.
“Armenia once again declares that it is ready to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and to start negotiations without delay,” Pashinyan said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Baku, but the EU said in a statement that high-ranking Azerbaijani and Armenian officials met in Brussels yesterday to prepare for the summit.
The officials “reviewed the political and security situation and the full spectrum of issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the statement said.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan will also address issues related to prospects for a peace agreement between them.”
Ceasefire violation
In 2020, the Caucasus neighbours fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated enclave.
The conflict – that claimed more than 6,500 lives – ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled for decades and Moscow deploy peacekeepers to the mountainous region.
Last week, Yerevan and Moscow accused Baku of violating a ceasefire in the Russian contingent’s zone of responsibility.
They accused Azerbaijani forces of capturing the strategic village of Farukh in the Askeran region of Karabakh, where three Armenian soldiers were killed in a shootout.
Baku rejected the accusation, insisting the area was part of its internationally recognised territory.
On Monday, Armenia’s security council accused Azerbaijan of “preparing the ground for fresh provocations and an offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh”.
It urged Baku to “immediately start talks on a comprehensive peace treaty”.
Baku said it was ready for peace talks, with its foreign ministry pointing out that Azerbaijan had proposed that the two countries hold such negotiations a year ago.
Armenia has also warned of a possible “humanitarian catastrophe” in Karabakh after natural gas supplies to the region were cut off earlier in March for several days.
Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.
Aliyev and Pashinyan last met in December for talks hosted by Charles Michel. – AFP, March 31, 2022
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