According to the official Kremlin, a tripartite meeting will take place between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia on 26 November.
Russian state news agency TASS informs that the three will discuss “next steps to strengthen stability and create a peaceful life in the region”, and “special attention will be given to the issues of development of trade and economic ties”.
Reportedly the execution of the 9 November 2020 tripartite trilateral statement that ended the Second Karabakh War as well as the 11 January 2021 document, both of which were signed by the three leaders, will be at the core of the discussion.
The news of the meeting comes amid the previous announcement that Aliyev and Pashinyan are scheduled to meet in Brussels
Russian President Putin will also meet Aliyev and Pashinyan individually.
The summit was announced within days of the news that Aliyev and Pashinyan are also scheduled to hold talks in Brussels on 15 December. The bilateral meeting, arranged by European Council President Charles Michel, is planned to be held on the margins of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December.
Pashinyan and Aliyev were previously expected to hold a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ahead of the anniversary of the 9 November tripartite peace declaration that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Speaking on 9 November, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the meeting did not take place because of a lack of ‘clear agreements’. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that ‘he is sure’ the meeting will take place, and that the leaders will come to an agreement.
