Top European Union officials on Friday congratulated Armenia and Azerbaijan on reaching an agreement to sign a peace deal to end the decades-long conflict and urged the treaty to be signed soon.
Baku and Yerevan, which have fought two wars over control of Karabakh, the Armenian-dominated region of Azerbaijan, said on Thursday that talks had concluded. “These announcements represent a decisive step towards sustainable peace and security in the region,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
An agreement to normalize relations between the two Caucasus nations would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey are all vying for influence. The Caucasus is a region in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two major wars over Karabakh, during the collapse of the Soviet Union and again in 2020. The war ended when Azerbaijan captured the entire territory of Karabakh in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.
After Baku captured Karabakh, almost all ethnic Armenians, more than one hundred thousand people, fled Karabakh. Antonio Costa, the head of the European Council, which represents the 27 member states of the European Union, has congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the peace agreement.
He wrote in X, “I now encourage you to move forward with the swift signing of the peace agreement.” “The EU stands ready to support all further steps towards sustainable peace and security in the South Caucasus,” the statement said. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have said they are still waiting for a comprehensive peace agreement to end the long-running conflict, but have failed to reach agreement on a draft agreement in previous talks.
After three decades of Armenian separatist rule, Pashinyan has recognized Baku’s sovereignty over Karabakh. Armenia also returned four border villages it had captured from Azerbaijan decades ago last year. Tensions over the conflict have also caused a rift between Armenia and Russia, with Yerevan accusing its ally of not doing enough to support it. Yerevan has since moved closer to the West and expressed a desire to join the EU.
