A trilateral meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev started in Moscow on Monday, January 11.

This is the first meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev after the end of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The two last met in February 2020 in Munich.

Putin welcomed Pashinyan and Aliyev to the Kremlin and said that he was grateful to both of them for coming to Moscow to discuss the Karabakh settlement process. He said Russia values its partnership and good-neighborly relations with Baku and Yerevan.

Putin noted that the trilateral statement on Karabakh is being consistently implemented. He said he believes that preconditions have been created for a comprehensive solution to the long-standing conflict in Karabakh. The Russian leader maintained that it is now necessary to outline the next steps for the settlement process, including on issues related to the peacekeeping contingent and demarcation of the contact line.

Putin said that the task of unblocking economic, trade and transport links in the region and opening of borders deserves special attention. These issues, he added, will be tackled by a trilateral working group led by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

He also noted that in all its actions on Karabakh, Russia has followed the principles of the OSCE Minsk Group.