The officials from Azerbaijan and Armenia, on Monday, agreed on not making use of force to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, and the solutions shall be sought with respect to the existing agreements after the meeting held with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea city of Sochi.
Both countries reported the deadliest clashes since 2020 in the last month, killing more than 200 citizens. The clashes occurred despite the agreements that were signed in 2020 and 2021, with the objective of seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
“We agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of use of force; we will discuss and resolve all problematic issues only on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders”, stated the leaders.
Nagorno-Karabakh was declared independent in the early 1990s by the ethnic Armenians who resided in the Soviet Autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which, however, hasn’t been recognized by any of the state. Following the 2020 hostilities, part of the region fell under Azerbaijani control.
The Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory by the international community. However, Baku hasn’t controlled much of the region since the beginning of the 1990s.
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire agreement after a war in 2020 that had been mediated by Russia. This agreement, though causing opposition protests in Yerevan, had provided much part of Nagorno-Karabakh to Baku. So far, Russian forces have been deployed in the disputed regions.
