Baku and Yerevan hold breakthrough direct negotiations

Azerbaijan and Armenia agree that a historic opportunity has arisen to achieve the long-awaited peace in the region, the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia said in a joint statement.

"Both countries reaffirm their intention to normalize relations and to reach the peace treaty on the basis of on respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity",

the document says.

The statement noted that following negotiations between the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the parties reached an agreement on the implementation of significant steps to strengthen trust between Baku and Yerevan.

Release of military personnel
In particular, on the basis of the principle of humanism, as a sign of goodwill, Azerbaijan will release 32 military personnel of the Armenian Armed Forces. In turn, Armenia, based on the principles of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, will release two Azerbaijani servicemen.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention
In addition to this, as follows from the statement, as a gesture of goodwill, Yerevan will withdraw Armenia's candidacy to host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-29). The country is doing this in support of Azerbaijan's candidacy. At the same time, Baku and Yerevan expect that other countries of the Eastern European Group will also support Azerbaijan's candidacy.

As a gesture of goodwill, Azerbaijan, for its part, supports Armenia's candidacy from the Eastern European Group as a member of the COP Bureau.

Other confidence-building measures

"The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia will continue negotiations regarding the implementation of additional confidence-building measures in the near future and call on the international community to support their efforts, which will contribute to the establishment of mutual trust between the two countries and positively impact the entire South Caucasus region",

the joint statement says.