EU Commission chief denies 'hidden agenda' of trilateral talks
On Sunday, EU Commission President Charles Michel denied that Brussels had ulterior intentions in holding a round of discussions between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
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European Council President Charles Michel speaks during a ceremony for the Good Friday Agreement at a plenary session in the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, March 29, 2023 (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
On Sunday, EU Commission President Charles Michel denied that Brussels had ulterior intentions in holding a round of discussions between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Michel told reporters after a trilateral meeting that "The EU has no hidden agenda. Our sole aim is to help Armenia and Azerbaijan reach a comprehensive and fair peace. We are ready to contribute to their joint efforts. We have agreed to hold the Brussels meetings as often as necessary."
On Sunday, the trio met in Brussels for the second time in two weeks. The European Council president stated that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan decided to restart border delimitation talks and resolve the problem via discussions.
Their next meeting will be in July in Brussels. In June, Aliyev and Pashinyan will hold five-way discussions in Chisinau alongside Michel, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Olaf Scholz of Germany. Michel stated that he would like to invite Aliyev and Pashinyan to the European Political Community Summit in Granada in October.
The two former Soviet republics have been warring for decades now over territorial disputes. In 2020, Azerbaijan launched a bloody war recapturing the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabkh. In the process, thousands of Armenians and Azerbaijanis were killed.
Territorial integrity has been the primary cause of discord between the two countries and thus it is expected to be at the top of the agenda. Last month, Pashinyan announced that Yerevan is willing to accept Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan is "within reach" after concluding four days of dialogue in Washington with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
Although no formal agreement has been reached between the two parties, Blinken said that considerable progress has been made.
