Armenian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Discuss Peace Treaty and Karabakh Conflict at Geneva Meeting

GENEVA — The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met late on Sunday for a second time after last month’s large-scale fighting on the border between their countries.

The direct talks held in Geneva appeared to focus on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Baku. Neither side reported concrete agreements on this issue.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov “brought the Armenian side’s attention” to five key elements which Baku wants to be at the heart of the peace accord.

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the position of the Armenian side regarding the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners of war.

The introduction of international mechanisms for monitoring the border situation was highlighted.

FM Mirzoyan emphasized that the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces should be clearly evaluated by international courts, and the criminals should be brought to justice.

The mutual understanding that the regional transport routes should be unblocked under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries was positively assessed.

According to the Armenian readout of the meeting, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also spoke with Bayramov about “ensuring the rights and security guarantees of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians, including through the creation of a mechanism for discussions between Baku and Stepanakert.”

Bayramov claimed, for his part, that Armenia has failed to fully pull its troops out of Karabakh in breach of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Yerevan maintains that no Armenian soldiers remain deployed there.

Citing lingering tensions at various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Bayramov was also reported to propose that the next meeting of a bilateral commission on border demarcation be brought forward from November to October.

Bayramov further called for a prompt launch of transport links between the two South Caucasus states, which is also envisaged by the 2020 ceasefire and follow-up agreements brokered by Moscow.

Yerevan regularly voices support for opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to commercial and passenger traffic. But it has rejected apparent Azerbaijani demands for an exterritorial corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenian territory.