Russia ready to help Azerbaijan, Armenia finalize peace treaty

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia is ready to help Azerbaijan and Armenia in finalizing their work on a peace treaty, the Kremlin’s spokesman said late Tuesday.

"In fact, both sides declared on numerous recent occasions their readiness to complete the effort, to finalize the work on the peace treaty. Russia is ready to assist them,” Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia television channel.

Noting that Russia was not forcing anyone to accept its mediation services, Peskov said it fully realizes the importance of completing work on the peace treaty.

“It is very important for us that our two partners and allies -- not only within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, but also within the framework of our high-level bilateral relations -- sign this treaty as soon as possible,” he said.

Peskov added that the signing of the peace treaty will bring about an atmosphere of peace, stability and predictability” in the Caucasus, which is of great importance for Russia.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020 which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization.

This September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal separatist forces surrendered.

Earlier this month, the two countries traded prisoners of war at their border following a landmark joint statement.