Sochi Meeting Calls for Recognition of Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability of Borders

SOCHI — A trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place in Sochi on Monday.

The Russian President thanked the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for coming to Sochi and holding talks and added that the Russian side will continue to make every effort to achieve peace and stability. He said the meeting was “very useful” because it created a “very good atmosphere for possible future agreements on some key issues.”

“Today we agreed on a joint statement,” he said after the meeting held in the Russian city of Sochi. “I must say frankly that not everything was agreed.”

“Some things had to be taken out of the text worked out beforehand at the level of experts,” he added without elaborating.

In a joint statement after the meeting, Aliyev and Pashinyan said they “agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use and discuss and resolve all problematic issues solely on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders.”

“On the basis of existing proposals, it was agreed to continue the search for mutually acceptable solutions,” said the statement. “The Russian Federation will render all possible assistance to this.”

The text of the statement follows:

“We, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N.V. Pashinyan, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I.H. Aliyev and President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, met in Sochi on October 31, 2022 and discussed the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.

We reaffirmed our commitment to strictly observe all the above-mentioned agreements based on the interests of the comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, ensuring peace, stability, security and sustainable economic development in the South Caucasus. We agreed to make additional efforts towards the urgent solution of the remaining issues, including those of humanitarian nature.

Noting the key contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in ensuring security in the area of its deployment, we emphasized the importance of its efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region.

We agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use, to discuss and resolve all problematic issues solely on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.

We emphasized the importance of active preparations for the signing of a peace treaty between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan with the aim of achieving sustainable and long-term peace in the region. Based on the available working options, an agreement was reached to continue the search for mutually acceptable solutions. The Russian Federation will provide every possible assistance to it.

We emphasized the importance of creating a positive atmosphere between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan for the continuation of the dialogue between the representatives of societies, expert communities and religious leaders with the assistance of Russia, as well as for the start of trilateral inter-parliamentary contacts aimed at strengthening the trust between the peoples of the two countries.

The leaders of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan praised the readiness of the Russian Federation to continue contributing in every possible way to the normalization of relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to ensuring stability and prosperity in the South Caucasus.”

Neither Aliyev nor Pashinyan made public statements right after the summit preceded by their separate talks with Putin.