In a joint statement issued Thursday, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to exchange prisoners of war and work toward signing a peace treaty, a step the European Union hailed as a significant step toward peace in the troubled region. Both countries stated in the joint statement that they "share the view that there is a historic opportunity to achieve a long-awaited peace" and they intend to "normalize relations and reach the peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity".
Both countries stated that talks between the presidential administration of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister's Office of Armenia led to an agreement "to take tangible steps towards building trust between the two countries." Azerbaijan pledged to release 32 captured Armenian soldiers, while Armenia will release two Azerbaijani soldiers. In addition, they indicated that they will continue their discussions "on the implementation of more measures to strengthen confidence" and asked for the support of the international community "that will contribute to building mutual trust between the two countries."
The joint statement indicates that "the Republic of Armenia supports the candidacy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the 29th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, withdrawing his own candidacy". The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, praised the agreement as an important advance, highlighting his satisfaction with the agreement to release detainees and open political dialogue "in an unprecedented way." Michel urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalize a peace agreement as soon as possible.
As part of the deal, Armenia agreed to lift its objections to Azerbaijan hosting next year's international climate change conference. Prior to this deal, no consensus had been reached on the Eastern European host for the 2024 climate talks, with Russia vetoing EU countries and Azerbaijan and Armenia excluding each other. A decision on the location and chairmanship of the meeting is expected to be made in the next week.
Azerbaijan carried out a rapid military campaign in September in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian rule and causing the vast majority of the 120,000 residents of the region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, to flee. Until Thursday's announcement, both countries had held heated discussions over the outline of a peace process amid mutual distrust.
