Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Thursday that he has approved a Russian proposal to hold talks in Moscow with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev next Thursday, May 25. The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are also due to hold talks in Moscow on Friday, hosted by their Russian counterparts.
The talks are taking place amid heightened tensions between the Caucasus neighbours, which have fought wars over Nagorno-Karabakh and whose volatile borders are often marred by skirmishes in which there are fatalities.
Baku and Yerevan are negotiating a peace deal brokered by the European Union and the United States, whose involvement in the Caucasus has angered Russia, a traditional regional power.
Pashinyan told his cabinet in Yerevan on Thursday, "We have received a proposal from Russia to hold a trilateral meeting at the highest levels mediated by the President of Russia on May 25. We accepted this proposal." The President of Azerbaijan has not yet confirmed his attendance.
Pashinyan said he met Aliyev on May 14 in Brussels with the mediation of European Council President Charles Michel, and that they agreed on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the two countries in accordance with the UN Charter, praising "an important stage in the direction of peace." He said "progress" had been made in preparation for drafting a "final text of a peace agreement".
Another meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev is scheduled for June 1 in Moldova, with the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The two former Soviet republics fought two wars, in the early nineties of the last century and in 2020, to control the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is inhabited by an Armenian majority and unilaterally seceded from Azerbaijan 3 decades ago.
After a blitzkrieg in which Baku took control of large territories in the region in autumn 2020, Baku and Yerevan signed a Moscow-brokered ceasefire. However, the border areas between the two countries continue to witness frequent skirmishes.
Yerevan is increasingly dissatisfied with what it sees as Moscow's failure to protect Armenia against military threats from Azerbaijan.
With Russia focused on the war in Ukraine and unwilling to strain relations with Azerbaijan, Turkey's biggest ally, the United States and the European Union have sought to steer the talks.
Washington hosted four days of talks at the beginning of May between Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations.
Moscow views these Western initiatives with suspicion based on the geopolitical position of the Caucasus to it.
Asked Thursday about Washington's position on the matter, Assistant State Department spokesman Vidant Patel said the United States "welcomes" direct talks between Baku and Yerevan.
"We see these direct discussions as vital and we are pleased to have them. Whether it takes place in Arlington (a Washington suburb), in Brussels or in Moscow, we will continue to support this effort" for peace.