Moscow, 29 April 2023 (GNP): Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced that they will have a new set of talks in Washington on Sunday in an attempt to improve their relationship. The talks come after several weeks of heightened tensions over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is a source of conflict between the two countries.
The region is recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan, but it is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, leading to disputes and armed conflicts between the two nations.
Last Sunday, Azerbaijan established a new checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, a road that goes through Azeri territory to Karabakh. Armenia condemned this action and considered it a serious violation of a ceasefire agreement made in 2020.
According to Ani Badalyan, a spokesperson, Ararat Mirzoyan, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia, will be visiting Washington DC from April 30 for a work-related visit. She also mentioned that the upcoming meeting will focus on discussions regarding the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As of now, there has been no official confirmation of the meeting from Azerbaijan.
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According to the Armenian defense ministry on Saturday, an Armenian soldier had been wounded by gunfire from Azeri forces near the village of Tegh in the Syunik province in southern Armenia. Tegh is the last village on the Lachin Corridor in Armenia before entering Azeri territory.
In 2020, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to end a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Despite several years of mediation attempts, the two countries have been unable to reach a peace agreement to resolve issues such as the demarcation of borders and the release of prisoners.
