European Council president Charles Michel will host a meeting on Sunday between Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, three officials with knowledge of the preparations told the Financial Times.
It will be the first time the two leaders have met in person since talks in Munich in February and come after the two countries’ foreign ministers held extensive discussions in Washington last week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said those talks “made tangible progress on a durable peace agreement” and that he believed “an agreement [is] within sight, within reach”.
The Brussels meeting is an “important sign of progress”, one of the three officials said on condition of anonymity as it is not yet public, adding that the EU and US efforts were “mutually reinforcing” and “complementary two-track processes”.
There are also plans for the three leaders to hold another meeting on June 1 with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Moldova, two of the officials said.
Spokespeople for Michel and Aliyev declined to comment. A spokesperson for Pashinyan did not respond to a request for comment.
“Azerbaijan feels quite comfortable with the Charles Michel mission because [the] EU doesn’t have a hidden agenda,” said Hikmet Hajiyev, Aliyev’s foreign policy adviser. He added that the EU process had developed “key concepts” for the negotiations and their structure.
“Russia can effectively contribute to the peace-building process in the region,” Hajiyev added.
MP/PR