Leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia to meet in Prague quadrilateral summit

Armenia's PM Pashinyan says he will meet Azerbaijan's President Aliyev at the European Political Community summit also involving France's Macron and EU's Michel.

Last month, over 280 people were killed on both sides before a US-brokered truce ended the worst clashes since the neighbours' 2020 war.
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Last month, over 280 people were killed on both sides before a US-brokered truce ended the worst clashes since the neighbours' 2020 war.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said he would meet Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for talks this week in Prague also attended by EU chief Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

"A quadrilateral meeting is planned between Armenia's prime minister, the presidents of Azerbaijan and France and the president of the European Council," Pashinyan told parliament in Yerevan on Wednesday.

He didn't specify the exact date of the meeting but said he would be travelling to Prague for the meeting of the European political community scheduled for Thursday.

Wednesday's announcement came days after Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers met for talks in Geneva to begin drafting the text of a future peace treaty.

It highlights the growing Western engagement in the volatile South Caucasus region, where Russia — distracted by its conflict with Ukraine — is visibly losing influence after decades of domination.

Baku and Yerevan fought two wars — in 2020 and in the 1990s — over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia for decades.

Last month, over 280 people were killed on both sides before a US-brokered truce ended the worst clashes since the neighbours' 2020 war.

READ MORE: Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of breaching truce, firing on border posts

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Meeting with Erdogan

Representatives of EU member states will convene in Prague for the European Political Community summit with a focus on Ukraine and the challenges that the continent faces. 

Türkiye, Ukraine, UK are also invited to the summit. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected to attend the meeting. 

Pashinyan announced a separate meeting with Erdogan, an ally of Azerbaijan.

According to the EU, the European Political Community aims to "foster political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest" and "strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent."

The six-week war in 2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had occupied for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.

The international community has taken a leading role in mediating the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process. Pashinyan and Aliyev last met in Brussels on August 31 under the mediation of Michel.

READ MORE: Erdogan seeks to ease Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions

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