Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan would serve the broader interests of the South Caucasus, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday as he visited Armenia.
On the second day of his trip to the country, Steinmeier said he was "firmly convinced" that "the entire region in the South Caucasus would profit" from a peace deal between the two neighbors.
The long-frozen conflict over the disputed region of Karabakh first broke out after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and reignited in recent years.
The two countries announced last month that they had agreed to a draft peace deal, but the treaty has yet to be signed.
Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions, including Lachin.
Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization talks and the demarcation of their border.
After a series of slow-moving negotiations, Azerbaijan rushed in troops last year in September and swiftly seized back Karabakh, whose entire population of nearly 120,000 people returned to Armenia after rejecting a reintegration program Baku offered.
Earlier in 2024, Armenia withdrew from several Azerbaijani villages it had controlled since the early 1990s as part of the peace process.
After talks with Armenian leaders in the capital Yerevan on Monday, Steinmeier visited Sevan Lake on Tuesday.
At around 1,900 meters above sea level, the body of water is one of the largest mountainous lakes in the world.
The German president was informed about measures taken to improve water quality on the lake, which has suffered due to pollutants such as fertilizers and a sinking water level.
He also handed over an automatic measuring station financed with German and EU funds, which is intended to improve water quality control.
