Azerbaijan, Armenia hold peace talks mediated by EU in fresh attempt to end hostilities

Azerbaijan and Armenia have held fresh peace talks mediated by the European Union as the two neighboring countries attempt once again to end decades-long hostilities linked to the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

European Union Council President Charles Michel, who mediated the new round of peace talks, stated on Saturday that peace and normalization of ties between Azerbaijan and Armenia could be achieved if both sides avoid violence and harsh rhetoric.

“Real progress depends on the next steps that will need to be taken in the near future. As a matter of priority, violence, and harsh rhetoric should stop in order to provide the proper environment for peace and normalization talks,” Michel said.

The EU Council president further emphasized that the current hostile state of affairs was clearly not sustainable and in no one’s interest.

Michel made the remarks after holding trilateral talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, describing the exchanges between the two leaders as “frank, honest and substantive.”

The three officials discussed during the talks possible measures to help bring the situation back to normal in Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority Armenian-populated enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan's territory.

“I encouraged them to take courageous steps to ensure decisive and irreversible progress on a normalization track,” Michel added.

Armenia, Azerbaijan may sign peace treaty by end of 2023: Official

Armenia and Azerbaijan may sign a peace treaty to end the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh by the end of 2023, a senior Armenian official says.

Russia, meanwhile, also offered on Saturday to host the two countries’ foreign ministers and suggested that a future peace treaty could be signed in Moscow, which played a key role in the past to establish peace between the warring sides.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia for more than three decades.

Since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, the two neighboring countries have fought two wars, in 1994 and 2020, over the mountainous territory.

In the second Karabakh war, more than 6,500 people died on both sides in the six-week conflict.

Pashinyan has reportedly expressed Yerevan’s willingness to also recognize Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, but has expressed serious concerns about transportation and various other limits imposed on the territory by Baku.

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