Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday announced an EU-mediated meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev next week in Belgium amid renewed tensions over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"I plan to meet on April 6 in Brussels with the European Council President Charles Michel and Azerbaijani President," Pashinian told a Cabinet meeting.
He added that he hoped "to agree on all the questions related to the start of peace talks" with Baku.
"Armenia once again declares that it is ready to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and to start negotiations without delay," Pashinian said.
Both Yerevan and Baku recently expressed readiness to launch negotiations on a "comprehensive peace treaty," following a flare-up in the long-contested Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijan said that it was ready for peace talks with Armenia after Yerevan urged Baku to negotiate a comprehensive peace treaty amid new tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"If Armenia is serious about a peace agreement, then concrete steps have to be made. We repeat that Azerbaijan is ready for this," Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry pointed out that Baku had proposed that the two countries hold peace talks a year ago.
In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the Armenian-occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh that claimed more than 6,500 lives. A cease-fire deal brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin saw Armenia cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan, and Moscow deployed a peacekeeping contingent in the mountainous region.
Last week, Yerevan and Moscow accused Baku of violating a cease-fire in the Russian contingent's zone of responsibility. Baku rejected the accusation, insisting the area was part of its internationally recognized territory.
On Monday, Armenia's security council accused Azerbaijan of "preparing the ground for fresh provocations and an offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh." It urged Baku to "immediately start talks on a comprehensive peace treaty."
Last week, the top diplomats of the two countries discussed developments, including a peace deal, with their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Azerbaijan also sent a proposal containing five conditions to normalize relations with Armenia, the country’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said earlier this month.
Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflict has claimed around 30,000 lives.
While Turkey has been the main backer of Azerbaijan against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a historical meeting took place between Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum earlier this month. It was the first high-level visit from Armenia to Turkey in a decade. Çavuşoğlu described the meeting with Mirzoyan as "extremely fruitful and constructive." He also noted that Azerbaijan supports the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan.
Turkey is ready to take further steps in improving relations with Armenia and establishing a regional cooperation platform in the Caucasus as long as Yerevan is determined to continue the normalization process that started with the appointment of special envoys, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last month.
Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus. Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region.
