SOCHI, October 31. /TASS/. Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are having a trilateral meeting, with Foreign Ministers of the three countries talking separately, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS Monday.
"The Presidents and the Prime Minister are having a trilateral conversation. The Foreign Ministers are talking separately," the spokesman said.
The meeting was initiated by the Russian side. The sides plan to discuss further steps on reinforcement of stability and security in Southern Caucasus. The agenda also includes discussion of restoration and development of trade and transportation ties and the implementation of 2020 and 2021 trilateral agreements.
Azerbaijan advocates prompt beginning of the work on the peace treaty with Armenian and seeks to speed up the delimitation of borders based on Soviet-era maps. The Azerbaijani side is expected to raise the issue of unblocking of communications in the region, including reopening of the Zangezur corridor, which should connect mainland Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan Region through the Armenian territory.
The Armenian government repeatedly stated its readiness to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, but expects effective steps on restoring peace in the region - in particular, to stop "raising the issue of a corridor through the Armenian territory for connection with Nakhichevan." In addition, Yerevan expects that "Azerbaijani forces will leave the occupied Armenian territories," taken during the hostilities of 2021 and 2022 and return to their initial positions. Pashinyan also said repeatedly that the borders must be based on the 1991 CIS founding documents, and declared his readiness to commence the work on delimitation and demarcation of the borders.