Aliyev, Pashinyan to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss future peace deal

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, July 10, to work toward finalizing a peace deal after nearly four decades of conflict. This was reported by Reuters with reference to the governments of both countries.

In March, Yerevan and Baku announced the completion of a draft peace agreement, which was an important breakthrough. However, the timing of its signing remains uncertain.

The talks in Abu Dhabi will be the first official meeting between the two leaders after the draft peace agreement was agreed upon.

The media recalled that during a bilateral visit to Turkey last month, Pashinyan met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said he would support Yerevan's efforts to establish peace with Baku. The United States has also recently expressed hope for a deal.

The peace talks began after Azerbaijan regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, forcing nearly all of the 100,000 Armenians living in the territory to flee to Armenia.

A potential obstacle to a deal was Azerbaijan's statement that it wants Armenia to change its constitution, which it says includes claims to its territory.

• On March 2, the GUR reported that Russia is implementing an information operation to spoil Ukraine's relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan.
• On March 13, it was reported that Azerbaijan and Armenia completed negotiations on the text of a peace agreement between the countries.