Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, held the latest round of peace talks in Berlin at the invitation of Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.
Armenia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said that the two top diplomats were scheduled to continue the talks on Thursday.
No further details were provided about the talks that are being held in Berlin’s Villa Borsig.
Photos posted on social media by Badalyan suggested that Baerbock, the German foreign minister, took a stroll with her Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts on the grounds of the venue.
The Berlin talks are taking place days after Azerbaijani forces attacked Armenian positions in the Gegharkunik Province on Saturday. That attacked followed an earlier assault on Armenian positions in Nerkin Hand, in the Syunik Province, on February 13, during which four Armenian soldiers were killed.
French and European officials called the February 13 attack “disproportionate,” angering Baku, which insisted that Azerbaijani soldiers were retaliating to attacks from Armenian soldiers — a claim refuted by Yerevan, which promised an investigation into the claims.
Ahead of the meeting, Baerbock met separately with Mirzoyan and Bayramov.
Armenia’s foreign ministry said that Mirzoyan discussed issues of regional security with his German colleague.
“Reference was made to the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the course of discussions held in Berlin with the participation of the ministers of the two countries on the same day,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry added that Mirzoyan “briefed his counterpart on Armenia’s approaches to the key issues of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan interstate relations, which are also reflected in the statement adopted as a result of the quadrilateral meeting held in Granada in October 2023, including implementation of demarcation on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, as well as unblocking of regional infrastructure on the basis of the principles of sovereignty, respect for equality and reciprocity.”
