Mereja.Forum

Armenia, Azerbaijan advance peace talks in Moscow

https://thecradle.co/article-view/25286 ... -in-moscow

While Russian officials hailed the meeting, they say 'technical difficulties' remain before a peace agreement over the Nagorno-Karabakh region can be achieved

May 26 2023


FILE (Photo Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in the Russian capital on 25 May as part of a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council (EEC), hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The leaders from the two warring nations confirmed they are ready to normalize relations on the basis of

mutual recognition of territorial integrity.

However, following the talks, Russian officials revealed that

unresolved technical issues remain between Armenia and Azerbaijan

regarding their 35-year conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

These are technical but very important details. We are talking about the procedure for crossing the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. How will border and customs control be carried out. These are the questions the vice-premiers will be discussing in Moscow in a week,

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk told reporters on Thursday night.

The Russian president also called the outstanding issues “mere technicalities.” https://tass.com/politics/1623193

We thoroughly discussed this subject, and it is a matter of terminology. Of course, these technical terms should precisely reflect facts and events that will follow the signing of relevant documents,

Putin said.

Pashinyan agreed that the two countries were

making good progress in settling our relations,

but objected to Aliyev’s use of the phrase

Zangerzur corridor,

saying that this could be regarded as a claim on Armenian land.

The word ‘corridor’ is not an encroachment on someone’s territory,

Aliyev replied, insisting that one would have to

try very hard or have a very rich imagination

to interpret his phrasing as territorial aspirations.

Nonetheless, the Azeri leader added that the fact Armenia has

officially recognized https://thecradle.co/article-view/25105 ... arabakh-pm Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan

is a major opportunity to reach a peace agreement.

The two South Caucasus countries have fought multiple wars over the last 35 years for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, home to mainly ethnic Armenians but claimed by Azerbaijan.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatists in Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan. Some 30,000 people were killed in the conflict that followed.

One of the latest clashes occurred in 2020; Moscow’s mediation efforts diffused the tensions.

In April, the Armenian premier said that Yerevan and Baku could sign a peace treaty if they both recognize one another’s territorial integrity

without any ambiguity and pitfalls

while agreeing not to have any territorial disputes in the future.

Russia is a peacemaker despite the arrogant West accusing this humble Giant, the Russian Federation currently led by a humanistic President Vladimir Putin!