Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia to discuss unblocking of regional transport lines in Moscow

Deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Moscow to discuss the remaining issues related to unblocking of transport lanes in the region, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said on May 25.

"The meeting of the deputy premiers will take place in Moscow," he told reporters, TASS informs.

In his words, "the sides have the same understanding of how the unblocking should proceed," and the technicalities of the process are currently being discussed.

"These details are very important because they are about the procedure of crossing the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, about how exactly border control, customs control and other types of control will be exercised. This is very important," the deputy premier continued.

"We will hold concrete discussions on how the border will be crossed, and what types of procedures will be required," Overchuk added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced after talks with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that a trilateral meeting of deputy prime ministers will take place a week later.

When asked whether other trilateral presidential talks may follow the meeting of the deputy premiers, Overchuk replied: "It’s up to them [presidents] to decide."

The negotiations for signing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which includes the unblocking of the communication lines as one of the main points, have been moving quite slowly due to irrelevant demands from the Armenian side, including about the so-called rights of the Armenian population in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

On February 15, the Armenian authorities submitted their response to the peace proposal of Azerbaijan, which is based on five basic principles conveyed by Baku to Yerevan in February 2022. These principles highlight the key issues related to the peace negotiations between the two countries, including mutual recognition of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders; mutual confirmation of the absence of territorial claims against each other; obligation to refrain in interstate relations from undermining the security of each other; delimitation and demarcation of the state border; and unblocking of the transportation and other communications.

However, the talks are still stalling while Armenia attempts to declare the so-called rights and securities of the Armenian population in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan by adding a relevant article to the peace treaty. Based on the country’s Constitution and international law, Azerbaijani authorities turn down such initiatives. President Aliyev has repeatedly stated that no third country should be involved in Azerbaijan’s internal issues like communications with Armenians in the Karabakh region.