EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar is convinced that Azerbaijan and Armenia are closer than ever to a peace agreement.
In an interview with Report, he said that the EU is pleased to note the progress achieved at the Armenian-Azerbaijani bilateral meetings: “We have welcomed and commended positive developments, such as the Joint Statement of December 7, 2023 on COP29 and releases of prisoners, or the border deal of April 19, 2024 that reaffirmed the importance of the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a basis for future border delimitation work, as well as the subsequent delimitation and demarcation that was carried out on the ground.”
“These have created a favorable environment for the conclusion of a long-awaited peace treaty and, as far as I understand, the sides are now closer than ever to an agreement that, with political will, could be signed very soon,” he said.
“The fact that this spring has been one of the quietest periods on the ground in the past decades also needs to be welcomed. I believe that the sides are on the right path, and hope that the positive progress continues, and that further concrete agreements and other confidence-building measures will soon be reached. As far as the peace treaty is concerned, most of its elements have now been agreed upon and the remaining pending issues can, I believe, easily be agreed. As always, the EU remains ready to support the process in any way the sides may find useful, whether by facilitating or hosting meetings, or discussing peace dividends that can support the sides in building a more cooperative and interconnected South Caucasus after the signature of the peace agreement,” he added.
Full interview is available here.