Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Panshinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held first direct talks without intermediaries in Abu Dabi, UAE on Thursday. The meeting that lasted nearly five hours was focused on peace agreement.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministries published identical statements that said both countries “confirmed that bilateral negotiations represent the most efficient format to address all issues concerning the normalization process.”
“It was confirmed that bilateral negotiations represent the most efficient format to address all issues concerning the normalization process, and on this basis, it was agreed to continue such result-oriented dialogue and the delimitation of the shared border,” the final statement of the meeting reads. The two leaders also reportedly instructed their respective border delimitation state commissions to continue work on delineating the shared border.
Prior to the one-on-one meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan, an expanded two-hour meeting was held with both leaders being accompanied by their delegations.
The meeting came after the two leaders in March finalized the draft peace deal whose terms have not been announced yet.
The meeting marked the first case of Armenia and Azerbaijani leaders meeting without the involvement of intermediates. Russia, which has long been the major intermediate between the two countries was sidelined from the meeting amid its weakening influence in the South Caucasus region. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow “definitely welcomed” direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It should be noted that Russia's relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan have deteriorated recently.
