Baku and Yerevan on Wednesday agreed to step up their efforts to establish a peace treaty after six weeks of fighting over the Karabakh region in 2020, European Council President Charles Michel said.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Michel in Brussels in a fourth such format and discussed the recent developments in the South Caucasus.
According to a statement released by the EU, Michel described the talks as “open and productive.”
He said further that the two countries’ foreign ministers would also meet within a month to work on draft texts.
“We reviewed progress on all questions related to the delimitation of the border and how best to ensure a stable situation. We agreed that the next meeting of the Border Commissions will take place in Brussels in November,” Michel said.
Humanitarian issues, including demining, detainees and the fate of missing persons, were also on the agenda of the trilateral meeting.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
However, the cease-fire has been broken several times since then.
In January 2021, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It also included the establishment of a trilateral working group in Karabakh.
After the conflict ended, Azerbaijan launched a massive reconstruction initiative in the liberated Karabakh region.
In July, Azerbaijan began the process of returning its people to land recaptured from Armenian forces in what Baku calls "The Great Return." The oil-rich country has vowed to repopulate the recaptured lands.
Unblocking the transport links was also discussed between Michel, Aliyev and Pashinian.
“I would like to underline that it is important to support the population on both sides and prepare them for a long-term sustainable peace,” Michel said.
The next meeting will be held by the end of November.
Baku has found more than 1,300 mines laid by Armenian troops in the Lachin region, which lies between Karabakh and Armenia, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
During the last two weeks, a total of 1,318 mines have been detected in anti-personnel minefields, the ministry said in a statement.
It added that the mines were produced by Armenia in 2021 after the Second Karabakh War.
The ministry noted that in line with international law, the 1997 Ottawa Convention banned the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel land mines.
Furthermore, it said, Armenia violates the requirements of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and "disrespects" the international community by planting anti-personnel mines.
"All of this is a deliberate crime against peace and security in the region and the environment, which once again demonstrates the hostile intentions of Armenia," the ministry concluded.