Putin, Aliyev, Pashinyan to Hold Talks on Karabakh in Moscow

The parties will consider the trilateral statement implementation and review the next steps to resolve the regional issues MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Trilateral talks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will be held on Monday, January 11, in Moscow at the initiative of the Russian head of state. The parties plan to review the implementation of the November 9, 2020 statement of the three leaders on Nagorno-Karabakh and discuss further steps to resolve the regional issues, the Kremlin press service reported. This will be Putin's first international event in 2021 and his first in-person talks in two months. They were last held on November 12, in Sochi with Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania, who was on a working visit to Russia at that time. According to the Kremlin, a particular attention at the Monday talks on Karabakh will be paid to the issues of providing assistance to residents of the districts affected by the military action, as well as of unblocking and developing trade and economic ties and transport links. Additionally, separate conversations of Putin with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders are planned. Moreover, Pashinyan's press secretary Mane Gevorgyan wrote on her Facebook page that the Armenian side at the meeting plans to raise questions of returning prisoners of war, search for the killed servicemen bodies, and clarifying the fate of those missing. Baku made no official announcement about the issues it plans to discuss at the talks. Ahead of the talks, the Russian leader held a meeting at which the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and the situation in the South Caucasus were discussed. In addition, Putin discussed the upcoming trilateral meeting in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. "Given the consistent implementation of the November 9, 2020 joint statement and the stabilization of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, it was noted that the upcoming meeting will focus primarily on outlining next steps to establish a peaceful life in the region," the Kremlin said. It was noted that the French leader expressed his support for Russia's efforts to facilitate the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. Emphasis was placed on the importance of a prompt humanitarian aid to the people who have suffered from combat operations, including through relevant international organizations.