Azerbaijan Uncertain About Attending Chisinau Meeting
Azerbaijan Ready to Meet with Armenia’s Prime Minister, No Final Decision Yet
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Ayhan Hajizade, made a statement about the planned meetings between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Hajizade said that last year talks were held in Brussels with the mediation of European Union Council President Charles Michel, but in December of last year, the Armenian side refused to participate in the meeting in the same format, which hindered the process.
Hajizade emphasized that the Azerbaijani side accepted the Brussels meeting, which was not held last year, and was planned to be held again on May 14, with Michel’s initiative. Furthermore, President of France Emmanuel Macron and German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz proposed to hold a meeting between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia with the participation of Scholz, within the framework of the next meeting of the European Political Community in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital. The Azerbaijani side stated that it can participate in the informal meeting in Chisinau, providing that it does not replace and change the Brussels format.
However, as the details of the meeting in question were not given, there is no final decision yet on participation in the Chisinau meeting. The last meeting in tripartite format was held on August 31, 2022, with the participation of Aliyev, Pashinyan and European Union Council President Charles Michel. The meeting on December 7, 2022, was not held. Aliyev announced that the meeting with Pashinyan, which was planned to be held on December 7 in Brussels, would not take place as Pashinyan announced that he could attend the tripartite meeting on the condition that French President Emmanuel Macron attend.
Despite these setbacks, Azerbaijan appears to be ready and willing to meet with Armenia’s Prime Minister to continue talks aimed at resolving their long-standing conflict. However, it remains to be seen if a mutually agreeable format and time can be found to move the process forward.
