The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to work together to develop Nagorno-Karabakh after decades of conflict, but failed to resolve a number of challenges that could prevent the success of a Kremlin-mediated peace deal in the South Caucasus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who facilitated negotiations in Moscow on Monday between Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said the peace agreement that entered into force on November 10 has been successfully implemented and the leaders came to the conclusion that “the terms of this contract are generally respected. “
The parties agreed to take “concrete steps to build economic ties and develop infrastructure projects,” said the Russian leader, adding that a working group composed of experts from the three nations would draw up “specific plans for the development of transport infrastructure and the economy. Of region. ,” he said.
The six-week conflict killed some 5,000 people and forced more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee their homes, according to aid groups. Monday’s discussions were the first personal conversations between Aliyev and Pashinyan since the fighting culminated with the Azeri army oppressing Armenian forces and regaining control over areas of Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring areas that they lost to Armenia three years ago. decades.
Putin said on Monday that more than 1,100 acres of land had been cleared of mines, the local population was receiving medical assistance and more than 800 tons of construction material and 1.5 million tons of humanitarian cargo were delivered to the conflict zone. .