Azerbaijan and Armenia on Saturday held a new round of EU-mediated peace talks, while the Russian Foreign Ministry called for a trilateral meeting to discuss the implementation of agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels as part of a new round of negotiations aimed at resolving the decades-old dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
European Council President Charles Michel is acting as a mediator in the talks, which come amid renewed tensions after Azerbaijan temporarily closed the Lachin corridor, the only artery linking the Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia.
"Armenian separatists broadcast radio frequencies to jam the global positioning systems of domestic and foreign airlines flying in Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
The ministry noted that the Armenian jamming affected two Azerbaijan Airlines planes on Thursday, warning that such incidents pose a serious threat to aviation safety.
Armenian separatist authorities dismissed the accusations as "pure slander".
About 6,<> people demonstrated Friday in Nagorno-Karabakh to reopen the Lachin corridor, demanding Moscow ensure freedom of movement through the corridor.
Azerbaijan subsequently allowed the Red Cross to resume medical evacuations from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
Russian invitation
In a related context, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Armenia's decision to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan led to a radical change in the conditions for the deployment of the Russian peacekeeping unit in the region.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its readiness to organize a trilateral meeting of the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Moscow in the near future, to discuss ways to implement the agreements, which include agreement on a peace treaty.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the need not to transfer responsibility for the fate of the Armenian population in the region to third parties, and to initiate the preparation of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan on the basis of previously reached agreements.
Russia has historically mediated between the two former Soviet republics, but Brussels and Washington have been increasingly active in mediating between them as Moscow, preoccupied with its invasion of Ukraine, stumbles.
During previous rounds of Western-mediated talks, Baku and Yerevan have made some progress towards drafting the text of a peace agreement, but its signing remains elusive.
Yerevan agreed to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but demanded international mechanisms to protect the rights and security of ethnic Armenians in the region.
Baku insists that such guarantees must be provided at the national level, rejecting any international formula.
It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting control of Nagorno-Karabakh since the late eighties of the last century, which led to two wars, the last of which in 2020 saw the defeat of Armenian forces and Azerbaijan achieved field gains, regaining control over part of the region and its surroundings.