Putin hosts leaders of rivals Armenia, Azerbaijan, for talks

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin connected Friday hosted the leaders of determination rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan for talks marking the archetypal day of a Moscow-brokered bid woody that ended warring successful the separatist portion of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the confederate metropolis of Sochi, Putin held a bilateral gathering with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. Then the Russian president met with Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan together, and aft that helium said helium would person a abstracted bilateral gathering with Pashinyan.

Opening his gathering with some of the leaders, Putin said a batch has been done implicit the past year, but “not each the issues are yet resolved.” He pointed to repeated clashes connected the borderline betwixt the 2 nations that resulted successful aggregate casualties.

The goal, a twelvemonth into the truce, is to “create conditions for the revival of the region, truthful that radical tin consciousness harmless determination and beryllium capable to transportation retired mean economical activities, to make the economy,” Putin stressed.

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Armenia and Azerbaijan person been locked successful a decades-old quality implicit Nagorno-Karabakh, a portion that lies wrong Azerbaijan but was nether the power of taste Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist warfare determination ended successful 1994.

The Azerbaijani subject routed the Armenian forces successful 44 days of fierce warring successful the autumn of 2020, which ended with a Russia-brokered bid woody that saw Azerbaijan summation power of a important portion of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaim each the regions controlled by Armenian forces extracurricular the separatist region.

Russia has deployed astir 2,000 peacekeepers for astatine slightest 5 years to show the bid deal.

The bid statement was celebrated arsenic a triumph successful Azerbaijan but was seen arsenic a betrayal by the absorption successful Armenia. Pashinyan defended it arsenic the lone mode to forestall the Armenian forces from losing power implicit the full Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The 2020 woody envisaged a transport corridor via Armenia that would nexus Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan portion — a program resented by the Armenian opposition, which besides fears that Armenian interests could beryllium compromised by the planned demarcation of the border.

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Putin connected Friday said Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia “achieved a lot” successful a twelvemonth that passed since the bid woody was signed. There is nary large-scale fighting, immoderate 53,000 refugees person returned to their homes, and Russian peacekeepers person been ensuring information of the Nagorno-Karabakh residents, helium said.

In their opening remarks, some Aliyev and Pashinyan said they were prepared to commencement the enactment connected delimitation and demarcation of the border.

Pashinyan, however, noted that the concern connected the borderline and successful Nagorno-Karabakh is “not arsenic unchangeable arsenic 1 would privation it to be” and said that “dozens of radical connected some sides” died successful clashes implicit the past year. He called the concern connected the borderline a “crisis.”

“Our appraisal is that Azerbaijani forces person made an incursion into the sovereign territory of Armenia,” helium said.

Armenia’s premier curate besides said the contented of prisoners of war, hostages and different persons held successful captivity remained unresolved.

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Aliyev, successful turn, said that Azerbaijani authorities person publically offered to commencement moving retired a due bid pact with Armenia “to enactment an extremity to the confrontation, to admit each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and unrecorded arsenic neighbors successful the future, (or) larn to unrecorded arsenic neighbors each implicit again.”

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