EU's Klaar optimistic about imminent Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agreement

European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar is convinced that Azerbaijan and Armenia are closer than ever to a peace agreement.

In an interview with Report, T. Klaar said that the EU is pleased to note the progress achieved at the Armenian-Azerbaijani bilateral meetings.

"We welcomed and commended positive developments such as the 7 December 2023 joint statement on COP29 and the release of prisoners, the 19 April 2024 agreement to commence border delineation, which reaffirmed the importance of the 1991 Almaty Declaration as the basis for future border delineation work, and subsequent delineation and demarcation work."

According to him, all this has created favourable conditions for the conclusion of the long-awaited peace treaty and the parties are now closer than ever to an agreement, which, if there is political will, could be signed in the very near future.

"It is also to be welcomed that this spring has been one of the quietest periods on the ground in decades.

I believe that the parties are on the right track and I hope that the positive progress will continue and that further concrete agreements and confidence-building measures will soon be reached," Klaar added.

The Special Representative stressed that most of the elements of the peace treaty had already been agreed upon and that the remaining outstanding issues could be easily negotiated.

"The EU remains ready to support this process in any way that the parties deem useful, be it facilitating negotiations, organising meetings or discussing opportunities to support the building of a more interconnected South Caucasus after the signing of the peace treaty," T. Klaar said.