US Department Of State Says Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Agreement 'in Reach'

A final peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is "in reach" and the United States is ready to assist both countries in achieving consensus, Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2023) A final peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is "in reach" and the United States is ready to assist both countries in achieving consensus, Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller said.

"Appreciate Armenian Prime Minister @NikolPashinyan's recent comments on mutual Armenia-Azerbaijan recognition of territorial integrity and continued commitment to peace. A final agreement is in reach and we are determined to help our friends achieve it," Miller tweeted on Thursday.

On Thursday, Pashinyan said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed to recognize each other's territorial integrity and were making progress towards normalizing relations.

The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh flared up in September 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s.

Hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered trilateral ceasefire declaration signed in November 2020. The two former Soviet states agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region. Since then, there have been occasional clashes along the border.

On February 18, 2023, Aliyev and Pashinyan held peace talks in Munich. After the negotiations, Aliyev said that the main issue was that the peace treaty between the two countries should be drawn up on the basis of international norms and principles, and that any provisions on Nagorno-Karabakh were unacceptable.