July 16 2022 21:16
Today, Saturday, the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers held direct bilateral talks, the first between them since the armed clashes that erupted in 2020 between the two countries over the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The talks, which took place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, are a continuation of an agreement between the two Caucasus countries brokered by the European Union last May to “advance talks” on a peace agreement.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said, in a statement, that the diplomats “discussed a wide range of issues related to the normalization of relations between the two countries.”
During the meeting, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the importance of a political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in order to build lasting peace in the region.
The meeting between the Armenian Foreign Minister and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jehon Permov took place once morest the backdrop of mutual accusations between the defense ministers of the two countries, in which each held the other side responsible for the cross-border shootings from Friday night to Saturday.
After first clashes in the 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan faced off in the fall of 2020 for control of the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The recent confrontations resulted in the deaths of regarding 6,500 people, and ended with a truce brokered by Russia.
In the framework of the armistice agreement, Russia deployed a peacekeeping force of regarding 2,000 soldiers tasked with monitoring compliance with the armistice.
Source: Archyde.com
