Putin holds trilateral talks with Armenia’s Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s Aliyev in Sochi

Russian President Vladimir Putin held trilateral talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi on Friday, November 26.

Following three hours of negotiations, the three leaders signed a joint statement promising to “work towards the creation of a bilateral commission” to delimit and demarcate the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The document also states that the parties “agreed to take steps to increase the level of stability and security” on their mutual border.

Putin stated that the mechanism for the demarcation of the border would be formed before the end of the year. He also presented the Armenian prime minister and Azerbaijani president with an olive branch, as a symbol of “peace and prosperity.”

Putin met with Aliyev one-on-one before the trilateral discussion, and held a one-on-one meeting with Pashinyan after the negotiations.

• In early November, on the one-year anniversary of the end of armed hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, heavy fighting broke out on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia once again. The two sides accused each other of provocations. The fighting ended a few days later, after Russia stepped in to mediate a truce.
• Putin last held talks with Azerbaijan’s Aliyev and Armenia’s Pashinyan in Moscow on January 11, 2021.