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Top European Union officials on Friday congratulated Armenia and Azerbaijan for finalising a peace deal to end their decades-long conflict, and urged them to sign the treaty soon.

Baku and Yerevan, who fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated region of Karabakh, said they had wrapped up talks on Thursday.

“The announcements represent a decisive step towards lasting peace and security in the region,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, commending “both sides for their persistent work”.

A deal to normalise ties between the two Caucasus nations would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over Karabakh at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020, before Baku seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.

Nearly all ethnic Armenians — more than 100,000 people — fled Karabakh after its takeover by Baku.

Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the EU’s 27 member states, congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on the peace deal.

“I now encourage you to move forward with a swift signature of the peace agreement,” he wrote on X.

“The EU stands ready to support all further steps toward lasting peace and security in the South Caucasus.”

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly said a comprehensive peace deal to end their long-standing conflict is within reach, but previous talks had failed to reach consensus on a draft agreement.

Pashinyan has recognised Baku’s sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step towards a normalisation of relations.

Armenia also last year returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it had seized decades earlier.

Tensions over the conflict have also driven a wedge between Armenia and Russia, with Yerevan accusing its ally of not doing enough to support it.

Yerevan has since moved closer to the West and expressed the desire to join the EU.

https://guardian.ng/news/eu-hails-finalisation-of-armenia-azerbaijan-peace-talks/