Pashinyan and Aliyev Meet in Brussels Agree to Intensify Discussions on Armenian-Azerbaijani Peace Treaty

BRUSSELS — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan reportedly agreed to intensify discussions on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty when they met again in Brussels on Wednesday for talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

It was their third trilateral meeting in five months held in the Belgian capital. It lasted for about four hours.

“Today we agree to step up substantive work to advance on the peace treaty governing inter-state relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and tasked the Foreign Ministers to meet within one month to work on draft texts,” Michel said in a statement released after the meeting.

The Armenian government likewise said that the two ministers will meet before the end of September to “continue substantive negotiations” on the peace accord sought by Azerbaijan.

Michel also said on Wednesday that he, Aliyev and Pashinyan “reviewed progress” on ongoing efforts to restore Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links and demarcate the border between the two South Caucasus states.

“We agreed that the next meeting of the [Armenian-Azerbaijani] Border Commissions will take place in Brussels in November,” added the head of the European Union’s top decision-making body.

Pashinyan and Aliyev will themselves meet again in Brussels “by the end of November,” while their deputy prime ministers, who chair a joint border delimitation commission, will also meet in the unofficial European capital “in November,” Michel said.

The commissions met in Moscow on Tuesday. Russian officials led by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk also participated in the meeting.

Michel reported no further agreements on the transport links. He said in May that Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed on “principles of border administration, security, land fees but also customs in the context of international transport.”