EU Council President upbeat about recent meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan
Elnur Enveroglu
Read moreFollowing the recent positive talks held in the United States on the peace treaty, the momentum should be maintained to take decisive steps towards the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, President of European Council Charles Michel told in a statement for media, Azernews reports.
The EU Council head also expressed his satisfaction of the meeting through which he said both Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders supported the 1991 Almaty Declaration and mutual respect to each other's territorial integrities.
"On border issues, we reviewed progress and the next steps regarding the delimitation of the border. In this context, the leaders agreed on the resumption of the bilateral meetings on border issues. The leaders confirmed their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86,600 km2). The ultimate delimitation of the border will be agreed through negotiations."
Charles Michel also touched on Zangazur corridor which will connect Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, and achievements on negotiation between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"On connectivity, the sides made clear progress in their discussions aimed at unblocking transport and economic links in the region. Positions on this topic have now come very close to each other in particular on the reopening of the railway connections to and via Nakhchivan. Their respective teams have been tasked to finalize an in principle agreement on the modalities for the opening of the railway connections and the necessary construction works together with a concrete timetable. They also agreed to draw upon the support of the World Customs Organization in supporting this work," he said.
It should noted that the statement by President of European Council Charles Michel follows the humanitarian issues, such as the recently missing Azerbaijani soldiers in the Nakhchivan direction who are imprisoned in the Armenian side.
"On humanitarian issues, there has been an understanding that further detainees would be released in the coming weeks. I also stressed the need to safeguard the mutual understanding that soldiers who have simply got lost and crossed to the other side would continue to be released through a speedy procedure. We also discussed the importance of stepping up work on addressing the fate of missing persons and on demining," EU Council head added.
To recall, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who has been on a working visit to Brussels, has met with President of the European Council Charles Michel and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
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