Azerbaijan says progress on draft peace treaty with Armenia achieved at talks in US

MOSCOW

Azerbaijan said on Thursday that progress on some articles of a future peace treaty with Armenia was achieved at talks in Washington.

The sides, however, did not find common ground on some key issues, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"The ministers and their accompanying delegation members reached a mutual agreement on some articles of the draft bilateral agreement on peace and establishment of interstate relations, but at the same time recognized that positions on some key issues still diverge," it said.

The White House on Wednesday welcomed the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, who engaged in a four-day negotiating session since Sunday.

Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, said on Twitter that it was "good to host" Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the White House, adding that he welcomed the "progress Armenia & Azerbaijan have made in talks," encouraging "continued dialogue."

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Baku during a war in 2020 fall, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and opened the door to normalization.