Armenia and Azerbaijan will work on being friendlier to each other and will trade prisoners they caught during the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The two neighbors have been fighting over some land for many years.
On Thursday night, both countries said they have a big opportunity for peace that they have wanted for a long time.
Both countries want to make an agreement for peace by the end of the year.
Azerbaijan quickly took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September, ending Armenian rule that had been in place for 30 years. The region is officially part of Azerbaijan, according to the international community.
Most of the 120,000 Armenian people left and went to Armenia nearby.
On Thursday, two countries said they will try to sign a peace treaty that respects each other’s borders.
Baku is allowing 32 Armenian soldiers to go home, and Yerevan is letting go of two soldiers, as a sign of kindness.
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, said that he is happy about the statement and thinks it is a big improvement in Armenia and Azerbaijan’s relationship. The United States praised a step that helps build trust.
Another action is when Armenia backed Azerbaijan’s request to host the COP29 climate summit by giving up its own candidacy. Azerbaijan said it will help Armenia join a group that talks about climate.
The two countries asked for help from other countries in their efforts.
The prime minister of Armenia and the president of Azerbaijan made a deal during their discussions.
The two leaders have met many times to talk about making things normal again with the help of the EU, the US and Russia.
Conversations had stopped recently because Azerbaijan didn’t want to take part in discussions in the US and Spain. They said they thought Western countries were unfair. The two countries started talking again in Iran at the end of October.
Tag: European Council
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Azerbaijan and Armenia to strive towards peace agreement
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What is our current notions about the Kakhovka dam?
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of plotting to blow up the Dnipro River’s Kakhovka hydropower facility.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, such a move would wreak extensive destruction.
What do we know about the dam?
- 30 meters tall, two miles long
- Built-in 1956 as part of the hydro-electric plant
- A 18km3 reservoir – about equal to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, US
- Supplies water to a number of areas including the Crimean peninsula and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
What would happen if it was blown up?
Much of the Kherson region would be flooded.
Destroying the hydroelectric power plant would also add to Ukraine’s energy supply issues – the war has damaged a third of its national power network.
Mr Zelenskyy told the European Council on Thursday that destroying the dam would mean “a large-scale disaster”.
It would also show Russia had accepted it could not hold onto the region, he added.
Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, said earlier in the week that Ukrainian forces were preparing a massive strike on the dam.
He agreed such a strike could be a disaster.
Pic: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A