MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expected that his trilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would produce agreements benefiting Baku's and Yerevan's economic development.
Attending a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on Thursday, which Aliyev was invited to for the first time, the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders traded a number of critical remarks concerning territorial matters. In particular, Pashinyan pointed out that, in his statement at the meeting, Aliyev "used an expression which in recent years has served as a headline for pursuing territorial claims against Armenia."
He once again brought up the problem of the Lachin corridor, saying that the territory is supposed to remain under the control of Russian peacekeepers "but, regrettably, appears to be unlawfully blocked by Azerbaijan."
Pashinyan reiterated Armenia's willingness to unblock all transport and economic links in the region passing through its territory.
Replying to Pashinyan, Aliyev said Azerbaijan had no territorial claims on Armenia and that his use of the word 'corridor' did not imply any territorial claims, but instead was an international term.
"As Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] mentioned, I believe we have a chance to approach a peace agreement, especially considering that Armenia has officially recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan," Aliyev said.
Pashinyan also sidestepped from protocol by replying to Aliyev's remarks, pointing out that the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement mentions the word "corridor" only once as concerns the Lachin corridor, and that the word has a special meaning in that context.
"On the other hand, I want to reiterate Armenia's readiness to unblock all transport and economic connections in the region, and communication lines running across Armenian territory", Pashinyan said.
Putin said during this exchange of remarks that the parties would have an opportunity to discuss all the issues at a trilateral summit later on Thursday. He referred to Aliyev's remarks that the conditions taking shape now provide grounds to assume that Azerbaijan and Armenia could reach a relevant understanding, including as regards transport routes.
"I am very pleased to note that the Armenian prime minister also said that Armenia is thinking positively in this respect as well, [and] believes that this is possible. But we could all discuss this, I think, at the trilateral meeting today. I hope that an agreement will be achieved on something that quite obviously lies within the scope of [our] interests concerning the economic development of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the entire region. I think we will have time to discuss all of this in detail," Putin said.
Following Putin's remarks, the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders resumed their argument, and Putin asked them to conclude that discussion, saying that, while terminology is important, "it's much more important that there are principled agreements on the principle issue of territorial integrity."
"And indeed, this is a basis for seeking agreement on other matters, which might be of secondary importance, although they are also significant. As we agreed, we'll have a chance now to talk about everything calmly and in a businesslike manner in a trilateral format, and I hope some agreement will be reached that will put the situation not only between Armenia and Azerbaijan but also in the region as a whole onto a path of constructive development," Putin said.
Everyone present at the meeting was thoroughly interested in this, Putin said.
"After all, these are former republics of the Soviet Union, we all lived in a united family of peoples; unfortunately, we have a lot of differences here, and sometimes this leads to armed conflicts, and this is also happening in Russia in a well-known area. Therefore, all of this is very sensitive, all of this is related to human tragedies, and all of us are interested in putting an end to these problems," Putin said.