Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to "not use force" to settle the conflict around the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, after a summit which brought together Monday, October 31, in Russia, their two leaders and the Russian president.

Baku and Yerevan 'agreed not to use force', as well as 'to settle all disputes solely on the basis of recognition of mutual sovereignty and territorial integration', joint statement says adopted at the end of this tripartite summit intended to reaffirm Moscow's influence in the Caucasus.

They also stressed "the importance of active preparations for the conclusion of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to ensure a lasting and long-term peace in the region".

Russia as arbiter

Captured for eight months by his offensive against Ukraine, which has caused embarrassment to Moscow's traditional partners, Vladimir Putin wanted, with this summit, that Russia regain its traditional role of arbiter in this unstable region, where Westerners carry out their own mediation efforts.

This summit was organized in Sochi, in the south-west of Russia, a month after border clashes which left 286 dead.

This is the heaviest toll since a war in 2020 for control of Nagorny-Karabakh, a region disputed between these two former Soviet republics since the 1990s.

"In our common opinion, it was a very useful meeting which created a very good atmosphere for possible future agreements", affirmed Vladimir Putin.

"For its part, Russia will do everything to find a final and comprehensive settlement" of the conflict in Nagorny-Karabakh, he assured, adding: "It is in everyone's interest to normalize relations."

"We will stay in contact and continue the dialogue and the search for the solutions necessary to put an end to this conflict," he further promised.

The Russian president first met one-on-one with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

"The most important thing is to ensure peace and create conditions for development," Vladimir Putin told his counterpart.

The Armenian Prime Minister, for his part, stressed that his priorities were the Azerbaijani withdrawal from the areas of Nagorny-Karabakh in which the soldiers of the Russian peacekeeping forces are deployed and the release of prisoners of war.

The Russian president then received his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, who thanked him for giving "momentum to the normalization process". 

The fall 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan had claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides and ended with an Armenian military rout and a Moscow-sponsored peace deal.

Sporadic clashes continued to break out, however, despite the presence of Russian soldiers, whether in Nagorny-Karabakh or on the recognized border between the two countries, as in September.

These Russian-sponsored talks come at a time when Western capitals have taken a more active part in mediating the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

European Council President Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron organized talks between Nikol Pashinian and Ilham Aliyev in Brussels in August.

With AFP

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