On May 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that on Thursday, May 25, he would have talks in Moscow with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev through the mediation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But the Kremlin did not announce such a meeting on May 25: Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said May 19 that Moscow expects both Aliyev and Pashinyan to visit next week, but as for possible contacts with their participation, they will be informed in time.
The previous trilateral summit was held in Sochi on October 31, 2022.
Negotiations in Europe and the United States
On May 14, Pashinyan and Aliyev held talks with European Council President Charles Michel. After the meeting in Brussels, Michel said that the leaders of the republics agreed to resume dialogue on border delimitation and announced their intention to hold new talks in Brussels in July. The Armenian foreign ministry said that the next meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders with the participation of the head of the European Council is scheduled for June 1: Aliyev, Pashinyan and Michel will negotiate with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron in Chisinau on the sidelines of the summit of the European political community.
Yerevan also said that during the meeting in Brussels they discussed issues related to the unblocking of regional transport and economic communications, demarcation and security of the border between the two countries, the agreement on the settlement of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the need to resolve the rights and security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Topics related to the prisoners, missing individuals and other humanitarian issues were also discussed.
The Azerbaijani MFA called the May 14 talks in Brussels useful from the standpoint of normalizing relations between Baku and Yerevan. It stressed the "exceptional importance" of the reaffirmation of respect for the territorial integrity of states at the meeting, in this context "Armenia accepting the internationally recognized territorial integrity of Azerbaijan". The ministry also said that Baku is ready to continue dialogue and interaction with international partners, aiming to contribute to progress in the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
On May 22, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with British Minister of State for Europe Leo Docherty that during the May 1–4 talks in the United States with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov it was possible to reach consensus on the two articles of the draft peace agreement.
Meeting with Lavrov
On May 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. The ministers met as reports of shelling on the border between the two republics intensified. The sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire and claimed deaths as a result of the hostilities.
Following the trilateral talks, Lavrov said that Azerbaijan and Armenia had managed to bring their understanding closer to a common vision on the topic of a peace treaty. He also noted that Russia will "continue to promote progress in order to fully implement all the provisions of all the trilateral statements, which form the basis of the efforts to normalize Armenian-Azerbaijani relations."
According to the minister, the sides confirmed that "without the resolution of delimitation issues, the unblocking of transport and economic communications, without a general improvement of the security situation in Karabakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, it is difficult to move forward on specific aspects of the peace treaty". Lavrov also added that Baku and Yerevan had agreed to hold a meeting of the bilateral commission on border delimitation and demarcation with the consultative participation of Russia in the near future.
Commenting on the results of the negotiations, the Armenian foreign ministry said that the parties continued working on the draft agreement on peace and interstate relations in Moscow. The Azerbaijani diplomatic mission noted that Bayramov and Mirzoyan agreed to continue discussing the draft peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan.
New talks
The press service of the Armenian government said Wednesday evening that Pashinyan went to Moscow to attend another meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council, as well as a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan. Before that at a press conference, the Armenian premier said that there were intensive negotiations between Yerevan and Baku and expressed the hope that the sides would be able to agree to sign a peace agreement in the near future.
However, he believes that the document can hardly be signed on Thursday in Moscow. At the same time, Pashinyan expects that an agreement on regional communications issues will be reached at the talks.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Based on materials from TASS