Putin offers help in demarcation of Armenian-Azerbaijani border
- 20 August, 09:48
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his assistance in demarcation of the contested border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
During a surprise visit to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Sunday, Putin said the Kremlin would be happy if the two South Caucasus nations signed the final peace deal and agreed on the demarcation of their state borders, Russian media reported.
During the two-day visit, Putin also held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev about the development of “allied relations” between the two countries.
"Our relations are still developing on the basis of the declaration we signed with you at the beginning of 2022, it is being successfully implemented, and during your visit to Moscow in April of this year, the development of our bilateral relations was given a good impetus. Economic and commercial relations are developing successfully," Azertag state news agency wrote with reference to Putin.
The declaration on alliance cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia was signed in 2022, two days before Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. According to that declaration, Azerbaijan and Russia should take the same or similar positions on current international problems. Furthermore, it stipulates that both countries cooperate within the UN, OSCE, CIS, other international organizations and forums on matters of mutual interest.
Despite the agreement with Russia, Azerbaijan has sent at least four batches of humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. The relations between Russia and its historic ally Armenia have been deteriorating since September 2022 after Armenia’s defeat in the war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh region. Yerevan has blamed the Kremlin and the Russian-led military bloc CSTO for failing to defend Yerevan and Armenians in the war with Baku.
