The CIS summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 28 September saw a brief but apparently positive conversation between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paschinjan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The first time Aliyev and Pashinyan met was in Moscow during the opening of the World Cup. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin had introduced them to each other, but it had not come to a conversation.

On the same evening, the Armenian Prime Minister spoke about the details of the conversation with Aliyev. According to Pashinyan, it was agreed that the ceasefire between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces should be strengthened. "That night, for the first time in four months, not a single incident was registered at the border, it was the first quiet night during my tenure," Pashinyan said in a live stream broadcast on Facebook. The two heads of state have commented on the continuation of the political dialogue and the peace negotiations. Aliyev and Pashinyan emphasized the importance of a peaceful solution to the Karabakh problem. "The third important decision we came to was organizing an operational communication between us. We will assign them to the relevant authorities in our countries, "said Pashinyan. According to the Armenian Prime Minister, the talks with Aliyev were not substantively negotiated, but above all, the reduction of tensions at the contact line had been discussed. Pashinyan pointed out the importance of preserving the ceasefire for the continuation of negotiations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Previously, the Armenian Prime Minister insisted on the involvement of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation process. This request was supported neither by officials in Baku nor by international mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group. Pashinyan's recent statements suggest that the negotiations will continue in the format already established.

A day later, the press service of the President of Azerbaijan published a brief report on the conversation between Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the CIS summit in Dushanbe.

"The Parties reaffirmed their commitment to the negotiation process for the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the strengthening of the ceasefire regime to prevent incidents along the line of contact and the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The parties have decided to create mechanisms for establishing prompt contacts between the relevant authorities of the two countries, "stated in the press release. As the Armenian news site 1in.am notes, it is a rarity that the comments of Azerbaijan and Armenia are in agreement as they are now. Another article on the results of the brief meeting in Dushanbe states that both Baku and Yerevan would benefit from the agreement. Nikol Paschinjan should now concentrate on the domestic political situation in the country and the organization of the extraordinary parliamentary election in order to secure his position of power in Armenia. Azerbaijan will use the agreement reached, which is a confidence-building measure at the front, to move Yerevan to "substantive negotiations". Baku is expected to count on the support of the OSCE Minsk Group. By setting up a hotline between their armed forces, Armenia and Azerbaijan could also prevent individual incidents on the ceasefire line from uncontrollably leading to major military conflicts.