Armenia And Azerbaijan Move To Normalize Bilateral Relations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met Thursday in Moscow and announced that they are ready to normalize relations on the basis of mutual recognition of territorial integrity.

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The meeting was held within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Council, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that "in my opinion, on the whole, despite the difficulties and problems, and there are quite a few, the situation is nevertheless moving towards a settlement."

"There remain issues to be resolved, but in my opinion, and we have discussed them with our Azeri and Armenian colleagues, they are of a purely technical nature," Putin said, noting that the sides had discussed communications and transportation in detail.

The Armenian Prime Minister agreed that the two countries "are moving towards normalization of our relations" on the basis of mutual recognition.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in the 30th anniversary meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow. The meeting was also attended by the presidents of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Pashinyan added that Yerevan is ready to unblock transport and economic corridors with Azerbaijan. For his part, the Azerbaijani President said that there are "serious premises" for moving towards normalization of bilateral relations.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave (some 120,000 ethnic Armenians live there) within Azerbaijan, has been a source of conflict in recent years, with the two nations clashing over control of the enclave.

The Armenian Prime Minister has declared to recognize this region as part of Azerbaijan as long as Baku can guarantee the safety and security of the Armenian population.