The European Union seeks to establish deep cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tensions in the Caucasus and is ready to assist the sides by organizing expert consultations and increasing financial assistance. A statement to this effect by European Council President Charles Michel following a trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was published Wednesday on the agency's official website.
"Michel reaffirmed the EU's commitment to deepen cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to work closely together to overcome tensions and promote a secure, stable, peaceful and prosperous South Caucasus for the benefit of all people living in the region," the statement said. The president of the European council stressed the "need for a full and speedy resolution" of humanitarian issues, including the "release of detainees and a comprehensive solution to the problem of missing persons."
In addition, Michel stressed that "ensuring a proper separation of forces is an important element of preventing" clashes and reducing tensions in the region. For its part, the European Union "will continue to support confidence-building measures between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as humanitarian demining efforts," including through "expert advice and increased financial assistance. Michel pointed to the importance of supporting conflict-affected populations, including "medical rehabilitation and reconstruction" of buildings.
A trilateral meeting between Pashinyan, Michel and Aliyev was held in Brussels on Wednesday. According to a preliminary agreement, the sides will set up a commission by the end of April to delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, mandated also to ensure security and stability in the border zone. The countries instructed their foreign ministers to begin preparations for talks on a peace treaty.
On March 26, the Russian defense ministry said that Azerbaijani troops entered the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day, the Russian defense ministry said that Azerbaijan withdrew its troops from the village of Farukh (Azerbaijani: Farukh, Armenian: Parukh) in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, when active hostilities broke out there. On November 9 of the same year, a trilateral statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which achieved the cessation of hostilities in the conflict zone. The Azerbaijani and Armenian sides halted their positions, a number of areas came under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor.
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Based on materials from TASS