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Armenian, Azeri presidents instruct foreign ministers to start peace talks preparations

Politics 15:04 07 Apr, 2022

Based on the results of the meeting, an agreement was reached to set up a bilateral commission on border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan until the end of April

Armenian, Azeri presidents instruct foreign ministers to start peace talks preparations

The trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place in Brussels, the press service of the Armenian government announced on Thursday, Qazet.az reports.

The Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan instructed the Foreign Ministers to start preparations for peace talks between the two countries, the press service added.

"Based on the results of the meeting, an agreement was reached to set up a bilateral commission on border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan until the end of April envisaged in the agreement reached in Sochi on November 26, 2021, which will be authorized to deal with security and stability issues along the border," according to the statement.

During the meeting, "Pashinyan referred to the situation and the humanitarian issues in Artsakh caused by the recent actions of the Azerbaijani military units."

"Issues related to the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, as well as the agreements reached at the trilateral meeting in Brussels on December 14 were discussed," the press service of the Armenian government reported.

On March 26, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan’s troops entered the Russian peacekeeping mission’s zone of responsibility in Nagorno-Karabakh. On Sunday evening, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Azerbaijan had pulled its troops back from the village of Farukh, also known as Parukh, in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. According to the statement, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and then the Armenian forces would turn over control of certain districts to Azerbaijan. In addition, Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.