BAKU:
Azerbaijan and Armenia mentioned on Thursday that that they had wrapped up talks geared toward resolving the Caucasus neighbours’ decades-long battle, with each side agreeing on the textual content of a potential treaty.
A deal to normalise ties could be a serious breakthrough in a area the place Russia, the European Union, america and Turkey all jostle for affect.
Baku and Yerevan fought two wars for management of Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated area of Karabakh, on the finish of the Soviet Union and once more in 2020, earlier than Azerbaijan seized the whole space in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.
Almost all ethnic Armenians — greater than 100,000 individuals — fled Karabakh after its takeover by Baku.
Each nations have repeatedly mentioned a complete peace deal to finish their long-standing animosity is inside attain, however earlier talks had failed to achieve consensus on a draft settlement.
“The negotiation course of on the textual content of the peace settlement with Armenia has been concluded,” Azerbaijani Overseas Minister Jeyhun Bayramov advised reporters.
“Armenia has accepted Azerbaijan’s proposals on the 2 beforehand unresolved articles of the peace treaty,” he mentioned.
Armenia’s international ministry later confirmed that in a press release, saying “negotiations on the draft settlement have been concluded” and “the Peace Settlement is prepared for signing”.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hailed an “vital occasion”, saying Yerevan was “prepared to start discussions on the place and time for signing the peace settlement”.
“We imagine this textual content is a compromise, as a peace settlement needs to be,” he advised reporters.
However in a touch at enduring tensions, Armenia criticised Azerbaijan for making a press release unilaterally reasonably than issuing a joint one.