Yerevan, Baku to respect each other’s territorial integrity

A trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place on Monday in Sochi.

A trilateral statement was adopted based on the results of the meeting, which particularly reads as follows, “We, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N.V. Pashinyan, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I.H. Aliyev and President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, met in Sochi on October 31, 2022, and discussed the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.

We reaffirmed our commitment to strictly observe all the above-mentioned agreements based on the interests of the comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, ensuring peace, stability, security and sustainable economic development in the South Caucasus. We agreed to make additional efforts towards the urgent solution of the remaining issues, including those of humanitarian nature.

Noting the key contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in ensuring security in the area of its deployment, we emphasized the importance of its efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region.

We agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use, to discuss and resolve all problematic issues solely on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.

We emphasized the importance of active preparations for the signing of a peace treaty between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan with the aim of achieving sustainable and long-term peace in the region. Based on the available working options, an agreement was reached to continue the search for mutually acceptable solutions. The Russian Federation will provide every possible assistance to it.

We emphasized the importance of creating a positive atmosphere between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan for the continuation of the dialogue between the representatives of societies, expert communities and religious leaders with the assistance of Russia, as well as for the start of trilateral inter-parliamentary contacts aimed at strengthening the trust between the peoples of the two countries.

The leaders of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan praised the readiness of the Russian Federation to continue contributing in every possible way to the normalization of relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to ensuring stability and prosperity in the South Caucasus.”

ZZ/PR