Putin pledges continued support for Azerbaijan-Armenia peace efforts

Baku: Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed Russia's commitment to supporting the normalisation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia during a state visit to Azerbaijan's state capital of Baku.

Speaking after talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday, Putin emphasised Russia's role in facilitating a peace agreement based on the trilateral accords reached in 2020 and 2022 by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are prepared to assist in the delimitation and demarcation of the border, utilising relevant Soviet-era documents, as well as in unblocking cross-border routes and establishing humanitarian contacts," Putin said.

Despite ongoing crises, including the situation in Ukraine, Putin underscored Russia's historical involvement in the South Caucasus and its commitment to participating in these efforts.

He noted that any initiative must be primarily driven by the parties involved.

"If we can contribute to reaching a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, achieve delimitation and demarcation of the border, and unblock necessary logistics and economic routes, we would be very pleased," Putin added.

Azerbaijan's lightning military offensive in September 2023 brought an end to three decades of ethnic Armenian rule in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, recognised internationally as Azerbaijani territory.

Most of its 120,000 ethnic Armenians fled to neighbouring Armenia.

European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the statement as a "major breakthrough in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations".

The US praised "an importance confidence-building measure".

Other moves include Armenia's support of Azerbaijan's bid to host the COP29 climate summit by withdrawing its candidacy. Azerbaijan has agreed to support Armenia's candidacy for a regional group associated with the climate talks.

The two countries also called on the international community to support their efforts.

The agreement was reached during talks between the office of Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the administration of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The two leaders have met on several occasions for normalisation talks mediated by the EU, the US and Russia.

Talks had stalled in recent months after Azerbaijan refused to participate in talks in the US and Spain, claiming bias on the part of Western countries. The two countries resumed talks again at the end of October 2023 in Iran