NATO official optimistic about Armenia visit

NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia Javier Colomina has summed up the results of his visit to Yerevan and described the conducted meetings as "useful".

The NATO official wrote on Twitter that he had held meetings with the Armenian prime minister, the foreign minister and the Security Council secretary, Caliber.Az reports.

According to the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers, a wide range of regional security issues were discussed at the meeting with Prime Minister Pashinyan.

The sides touched upon the issues of "the development of partnership between Armenia and NATO, touched upon the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the situation around Karabakh".

To recap, Colomina will visit Azerbaijan on May 25.

The process of border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan still remains unimplemented as the parties couldn’t come to terms with the conditions, they put forward to each other.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have made "tangible progress" towards reaching a consensus in talks over the past few days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 4, adding a final agreement was within sight.

Washington hosted the foreign ministers of the two South Caucasus rivals on May 1-4. Tensions between them have flared anew after Azerbaijan installed a road checkpoint at the start of the Lachin Corridor, the only route linking Armenia to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

"The two sides have discussed some very tough issues over the last few days, and they've made tangible progress on a durable peace agreement," Blinken said at a closing session for the bilateral peace negotiation.

He added that he believes that there is an agreement within sight and that Washington will continue to help both countries cross the finish line.

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but home to mostly ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan committed to keeping the route open as part of a Russian-brokered ceasefire in 2020 that ended a six-week war between the two countries.

Azerbaijan said it had established the checkpoint in response to what it said were Armenian weapon supplies to Karabakh. Yerevan denies that charge.

Good meetings in Yerevan with PM @NikolPashinyan, MFA @AraratMirzoyan and NSA Grigoryan. Discussed ways to increase #NATO-Armenia cooperation and the regional security dynamics, in particular the current status of peace process between 🇦🇲&🇦🇿, after recent talks pic.twitter.com/pxchf85D5U

— Javier Colomina (@JavierColominaP) May 24, 2023