Peace talks: Armenia, Azerbaijan prepare to bury the hatchet
An EU-mediated summit in Brussels saw both sides ordering their foreign ministers to do preparatory work for peace talks.
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Armenia and Azerbaijan prepare to hold peace talks after a heated conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are preparing to hold peace talks, Yerevan's foreign ministry said Thursday, following a flurry of disputes over and within the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The disputes are what set fire to a conflict in 2020, which left many dead.
The Armenian foreign ministry stated that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ordered foreign ministers to begin preparatory work for peace talks" between Yerevan and Baku.
According to Yerevan, this came during an EU-meditated summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
"An agreement was reached during the meeting... to set up a bilateral commission on the issues of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border, which will be in charge of ensuring security and stability along the frontier," the ministry revealed in its statement indicating that the two nations could potentially determine the fate of the region in the near future.
European Council President Charles Michel had mediated a rare round of talks between Pashinyan and Aliyev, which took place in the EU capital, Brussels, on Wednesday.
The meeting between the two officials was arranged following recent tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh in late March, which saw Azerbaijan capturing a village in the area and killing two troops in violation of a ceasefire mediated by Russia.
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said that works are underway for peace talks, revealing that the forthcoming peace treaty will be based "on the basic principles proposed earlier" by Baku.
On their part, the EU said that Michel "noted both President Aliyev's and Prime Minister Pashinyan's stated desire to move rapidly towards a peace agreement between their countries."
"To this end, it was agreed to instruct Ministers of Foreign Affairs to work on the preparation of a future peace treaty, which would address all necessary issues," it added in a statement.
Two Armenian soldiers killed in Nagorno-Karabakh
On March 26, authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region reported that Azerbaijani troops killed two Armenian soldiers, accusing Baku of violating the Russian mediated ceasefire.
On its account, the Armenian Foreign Ministry stated that “Azerbaijani forces entered the village of Baruch, which is under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces," and that "this step constitutes a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said that “The enemy forces killed two soldiers after they opened fire with weapons and combat marches,” adding that the “the situation in the region is still tense,” expressing hope that “the Russian peacekeeping forces will be able to find a solution to this issue.”
Armenia has been accused by Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry of "misleading the international community" about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Armenia is spreading misinformation, and the Azerbaijani forces were conducting actions aimed at determining their field locations, “the ministry added.
