Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit at the Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit at the Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Ilya Pitalev/Kremlin via REUTERS

Putin sees new hope for Azerbaijan-Armenia settlement

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite difficulties, he felt Azerbaijan and Armenia were moving towards a settlement.
Published on: 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that despite difficulties, he felt Azerbaijan and Armenia were moving towards a settlement to their decades-old conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Putin made his remarks in a televised Kremlin meeting with leaders of both nations. Russia has traditionally been the main power broker between the two countries on the southwest edge of the former Soviet Union which have fought two major wars in the last three decades.

"In my opinion, on the whole, despite difficulties and problems, and there are enough of them, the situation is nonetheless moving towards a settlement," he said.

Next week, officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia would meet in a bid to ensure that "all unresolved issues will be cleared away", he added.

Earlier, in a clear sign of the tensions between the two nations, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev had argued in Russian for several minutes in Putin's presence.

Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov pose for a family photo during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023.
Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov pose for a family photo during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Sergey Ilyin/Pool via REUTERS

Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan, has been a source of conflict since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 2020, Azerbaijan seized control of areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave, and since then it has periodically restricted access to the only access road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

Baku last month erected a checkpoint along the road on the grounds Armenia was using the route to send weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh, something Yerevan denies.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

Putin said the three sides had discussed communications and transport in detail.

"There are still unresolved questions, but in my opinion, and we discussed this with our Azeri and our Armenian colleagues, they are of a purely technical nature," he said.

Outstanding issues between the two sides include the rights and security of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

Despite their testy exchange, both Pashinyan and Aliyev said there had been progress lately towards a settlement based on mutual recognition of each other's territorial integrity.

Distracted by the war in Ukraine, Russia faces a challenge to maintain its role as broker as the United States and European Union have made their own attempts to bring the sides together.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by the RIA news agency earlier as saying the West was trying to interfere in the conflict and discredit Russian peacekeeping policy.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Tatiana Gomozova, Caleb Davis, Felix Light, David Ljunggren and Ron Popeski, writing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Andrew Heavens and Grant McCool)

The NRI Nation
www.mynrination.com