Azerbaijani, Armenian leaders meeting in Brussels in the hope of achieving a breakthrough in negotiations

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet for the fourth time in Brussels on August 31 under the auspices of EU Council President Charles Michel to look into ways of expediting preparations for drafting a peace deal, Azernews reports.

“Preparatory calls today in advance of tomorrow’s fourth Brussels meeting with Azerbaijani President and Prime Minister of Armenia”, Charles Michel tweeted.

In a telephone conversation on August 30, Michel and Aliyev discussed the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the problems on the agenda of the European Union meeting, which will be held on August 31 in Brussels, the Azerbaijani presidential press service said.

Similarly, during a phone conversation with Pashinyan on the same day, Michel touched upon the upcoming trilateral meeting agenda of the Azerbaijani, Armenian, and EU leaders. The sides underlined the importance of the ongoing dialogue and expressed optimism about its positive outcomes, the office of the Armenian PM said.

Pashinyan and Michel also talked about the Armenia-EU bilateral agenda, the report added.

The Armenian premier left for Brussels on August 30, Azernews reports, citing the Armenian media.

The third Brussels meeting took place between the leaders at the initiative of President of the European Council Charles Michel on May 22. The sides focused on the situation in the South Caucasus and the development of EU relations with both countries as well as the broader region.

Meanwhile, the second meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian border delimitation commissions led by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and his Armenian counterpart Mher Grigoryan took place in Moscow on August 30, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

Prior to the meeting, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk met with Mustafayev and Grigoryan and expressed support for the commissions' ongoing work.

Then, the parties discussed organizational and procedural issues and exchanged views on the future work of the commissions and the regulation of their joint activities.

The parties agreed to hold the third meeting within the time period agreed upon.

The first such meeting between Azerbaijan and Armenia occurred on May 24, 2022.

The parties confirmed their willingness to cooperate on delimitation and other matters within the commission's framework. The conference also discussed arranging the joint operations of the commission's organizational and procedural difficulties.

To recap, on May 23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed decrees on the creation of border delimitation and security commissions.