Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin to hold summit in Sochi

The Kremlin has announced that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a tripartite meeting in Sochi this week.

The meeting is scheduled for 26 November. 

The leaders will reportedly discuss the implementation of the 9 November 2020 tripartite peace declaration that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War as well as a follow-up agreement signed on 11 January 2021. 

The meeting will also focus on outlining ‘further steps to strengthen stability and establish a peaceful life in the region’, Russian state-owned media agency TASS reports and ‘special attention will be given to the issues of development of trade and economic ties’. 

Putin will also hold bilateral meetings with Pashinyan and Aliyev on the margins of the Sochi summit.  

The summit was announced within days of the news that Aliyev and Pashinyan are also scheduled to hold talks in Brussels on 15 December. The bilateral meeting, arranged by European Council President Charles Michel, is planned to be held on the margins of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December.

[Read more: Pashinyan and Aliyev to meet in December]

Pashinyan and Aliyev were previously expected to hold a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ahead of the anniversary of the 9 November tripartite peace declaration that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Speaking on 9 November, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the meeting did not take place because of a lack of ‘clear agreements’. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that ‘he is sure’ the meeting will take place, and that the leaders will come to an agreement.