Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Armenia/Azerbaijan: Peace agreement finalized

Border control in Nagorno-Karabakh(Bild: APA/AFP/Tofik BABAYEV)

After decades of conflict, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on a peace agreement. Negotiations have been concluded, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Thursday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed this.

Previously, there had been two outstanding issues, but a compromise has now been found, it was said. Originally, the peace treaty was supposed to have been signed by the end of 2023. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the agreement stipulates, among other things, that no armed forces from third countries will be stationed at the border.

The Russian government recently announced that it would end its military presence in the Caucasus region. No concrete timetable for the withdrawal has been announced yet. Russian soldiers had been stationed in the region since 2020 – according to the Kremlin, to prevent a renewed outbreak of violence. However, when Azerbaijani troops recently advanced, the Russians did not intervene.

The two former Soviet republics have fought two wars against each other in recent decades. The conflict was over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2023, the Azerbaijani army brought the region under its control in a large-scale military offensive. The region is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, but under international law it belongs to Azerbaijan. As a result of the military operation, more than 100,000 people fled to Armenia.

Another war over Nagorno-Karabakh was fought in 2020. At that time, Russian representatives brokered a ceasefire agreement between the parties to the conflict.