Armenia and Azerbaijan are near agreeing an finish to a blockade of transport hyperlinks however extra work is required to seal a peace deal between the warring neighbours, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mentioned on Friday.
Lavrov spoke after he brokered a gathering between the overseas ministers of each nations. Russia helped safe a truce to halt a six-week battle in 2020, however the settlement has not led to lasting peace, and armed clashes are frequent alongside the border.
The two international locations have fought two wars in 30 years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan with a primarily ethnic Armenian inhabitants. Yerevan accuses Baku of blocking the one street route linking Armenia to Karabakh.
Armenia and Azerbaijan had been because of focus on the unblocking of transport hyperlinks at a gathering subsequent week, the place Russia can even be current.
“We hope the outcome will be positive. The parties are already close to a final agreement,” Lavrov mentioned in an announcement, however didn’t give particulars.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned on Thursday he had agreed to peace talks in Moscow on May 25 with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin mediating, the Interfax news company reported.
But throughout Friday’s talks, the 2 nations confirmed that with out progress on settling disputes over borders and transport hyperlinks, in addition to enhancing the safety state of affairs in and round Karabakh, “it is difficult to move forward on specific aspects of the peace treaty”, Lavrov mentioned.
Armenia – formally an ally of Russia by way of a mutual self-defence pact – has repeatedly referred to as on Moscow to make use of its peacekeeping drive to cease what it calls Azerbaijan’s “gross violation” of the 2020 peace deal.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
