EU says latest Armenia-Azerbaijan talks should build momentum for peace

The European Union on Sunday welcomed the latest meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as a positive step toward clinching a durable peace agreement between the two neighbouring states which have fought two major wars in 30 years.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels at the EU’s invitation.
Neither leader commented after the meeting, the latest in a series since a six-week conflict between the two countries in 2020. During that fighting, Azerbaijan recaptured chunks of territory it had lost in a war that engulfed the region as Soviet rule was collapsing in the 1990s.
The two countries’ foreign ministers also met in the United States this month. Russia, which brokered a truce to halt the 2020 fighting, has also been active in peacekeeping.
Charles Michel, president of the EU’s Council, said the leaders made progress on issues including return of prisoners, demarcation of borders and access through each other’s territory to reach isolated regions in the Caucasus.