BAKU -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on August 19 that Moscow is ready to get involved in the process of signing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the basis of trilateral agreements reached after the 44-day war between the two South Caucasus nations in 2020.
"We also are ready to facilitate the delimitation and demarcation of the [Azerbaijani-Armenian] border, as we have possessed corresponding documents since the Soviet times; unblocking transborder routes; establishing humanitarian contacts," Putin said, stressing that "stable peace in the South Caucasus corresponds to the deep interests of all the nations in the region."
Aliyev said in turn that he was “very satisfied” with the current state of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.
The head of the Baku-based Institute of Political Management, Azer Qasimli, told RFE/RL that major issues discussed between Putin and Aliyev were related to Baku’s regaining control over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September last year, which led to the dissolution of the region’s separatist ethnic Armenian government.
Qasimli added that Putin is looking for ways to sell Russian gas to Europe via Azerbaijan amid Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia has tried to topple [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinian and bring pro-Russian politicians to power. It failed to work and Pashinian’s government got stronger and chose the course of getting closer to the West,” Qasimli said, adding that the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia remains very high and could lead to "a new wave of clashes.”
Putin arrived in Baku for a two-day official visit on August 18.
His visit comes as Azerbaijan and Armenia have been in talks over a peace treaty.
SEE ALSO: A Constitutional Amendment That Could Lead To Peace Between Armenia And AzerbaijanNagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, used to be under ethnic Armenians' control for three decades.
Since Baku regained control over the breakaway region, ties between Russia and Armenia have been tense. Yerevan has accused Moscow of failing to meet its obligations after Russian troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a November 2020 cease-fire agreement avoided any involvement in Baku's victorious lightning offensive in September.
The authorities in Yerevan did not immediately react to Putin’s comments in Baku, while Gagik Melkonian, an outspoken lawmaker representing the ruling Civil Contract party, dismissed them. He claimed that the Russian leader travelled to Baku to discuss further anti-Armenian moves with Aliyev.
“They handed over Karabakh to Baku and are now reminding them that Baku is in debt to them for that,” Melkonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “So, I personally don’t expect anything good from that [Baku] meeting.”