May 24, 2022 - 18:27 AMT
EU expects "concrete steps" for sustainable peace in Caucasus

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said he hopes to see concrete steps from Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve sustainable peace.

"Welcome the 3rd trilateral meeting hosted by [President of the European Council Charles Michel with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Brussels," Borrell said.

"Hopeful to see concrete steps that support dynamics towards sustainable peace. The EU continues to be strongly engaged in peace and reconciliation efforts in the region."

Michel, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held their third meeting since December in Brussels on Sunday, May 22 and focused on the situation in the South Caucasus and the development of EU relations with both countries as well as the broader region.

Pashinyan and Aliyev agreed to hold the first joint meeting of the Border Commissions on the inter-state border "in the coming days". Michel, meanwhile, told the two leaders that it was necessary that the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) be addressed.