Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev will meet in Brussels on April 6 in another round of talks mediated by the President of European Council Charles Michel, a weekly schedule published on the European body’s website suggested.
While there is not confirmation from Yerevan or Baku, the European Union hosted a meeting of high-level officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels on Wednesday to advance joint efforts to find solutions to a range of issues between both countries.
“In particular, discussions focused on preparations for the upcoming meeting between President Charles Michel of the European Council, President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia in Brussels on April 6, 2022,” said a press statement.
Next week’s meeting comes as Azerbaijani forces continue a siege on and occupation of Armenian villages in Artsakh’s Askeran region, where they have breached the line-of-contact and have advanced into the Parukh village and currently continue to remain in the strategic Karaglukh Heights.
Russia on Saturday accused Azerbaijan of violating the provisions of the November 9, 2020 agreement and announced that Azerbaijani forces used Turkish-made Bayraktar drones to carry out their invasive attack on Artsakh position under the direct control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
The United States and France both voiced concern over troop advancements by Azerbaijan, with official Paris calling on Azerbaijan to pull its forces back to their original positions.
Michel hosted another round of talks between Pashinyan and Aliyev on December 14 in Burssels, where the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders reaffirmed their agreement on launching the railway that would connect the two countries. Reference also was made to possible steps aimed at carrying out demarcation and delimitation of the border, as well as confidence-building efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Immediately after the meeting with Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev met with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
On February 4, Macron and Michel mediated another round of virtual talks between Pashinyan and Aliyev.
The EU-hosted meeting on Wednesday was attended by Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan and the Assistant to Azerbaijan’s president Hikmet Hajiyev and facilitated by the EU’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar.
“During substantive discussions, which also included a separate bilateral conversation between Mr Hajiyev and Mr Grigoryan, the participants reviewed the political and security situation and the full spectrum of issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a follow-up to the understandings reached during the meeting of leaders of both countries and President Michel, held in Brussels on December 14, 2021,” a press announcement on Wednesday’s meeting said.
“The participants agreed to meet again over the coming weeks in order to continue discussions, among others on issues raised during the leaders’ meeting of December 14, 2021. Armenia and Azerbaijan will also address issues related to prospects for a peace agreement between them,” said the statement, adding the the European Union “remains committed to continue its engagement towards sustainable peace and stability in the South Caucasus.”