UPDATE - Azerbaijan counts on further Russian role in normalization of ties with Armenia: President

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT; ADDS DETAILS

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Azerbaijan trusts more Russian role in the normalization of ties with Armenia, the nation’s president said on Monday ahead of a trilateral meeting with the Russian and Armenian leaders in Sochi.

“We count on Russia’s further active role in the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations,” Ilham Aliyev said in the Russian coastal city prior to a one-on-one meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Aliyev expressed his gratitude to Putin for the Russian leader’s role in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and underscored the positive dynamics in Russian-Azerbaijan relations.

He further said that the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be achieved “on the basis of the five basic principles proposed by Baku.”

“The Karabakh conflict is already history, it was resolved two years ago, so there is practically nothing to discuss in this context,” Aliyev said, adding that the normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia ties is a format that requires “very serious steps.”

Meanwhile, Putin underlined the need to talk about the situation in Karabakh and to look for ways to resolve issues that “have not yet been resolved,” according to the Kremlin press service.

Earlier, Putin held bilateral talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, where he highlighted ensuring peace and stability in Karabakh as being “the most important thing.”

Azerbaijan proposed the five basic principles, which it deemed necessary for the normalization of bilateral relations, to Armenia back in March by mediators.

These principles call for mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity, relinquishing territorial claims against each other, refraining from threatening each other's security, setting borders and establishing diplomatic relations, and opening transportation and communication lines.

This September, deadly clashes on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border near Karabakh claimed nearly 300 lives.

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.

In fall 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Baku liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation, ending in a Moscow-brokered truce. The peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.