Speaking at the ministerial meeting of landlocked developing countries in Yerevan on December 14, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the exchange of prisoners that took place the day before could be considered the starting point in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

"From it, we can at least try to make efforts to ensure that all subsequent news increases the likelihood of concluding a [peace] agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the head of Armenia noted.

Pashinyan said that Armenia is ready to take active steps towards opening regional communications. Peace is, first of all, the possibility and existence of economic, cultural, and political ties between peoples. The head of government of Armenia expressed hope that this project will expand the opportunities for both Armenia and Azerbaijan to access maritime trade routes.

"Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan have been closed for more than 30 years, the prime minister recalled, confirming Yerevan’s readiness to take very active and concrete steps towards opening transport communications in the region," he added. "The Republic of Armenia expresses its readiness to create and restore railway communication between Azerbaijan and Armenia along two previously existing railways. The first is the northern route, which connects the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan with the Tavush region of Armenia; the second is the southern route, which, among other things, will also connect the western regions of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. We believe that the western regions of Azerbaijan can be connected with Nakhichevan and the outside world in general through the northern route, and we have officially expressed this readiness," Pashinyan noted.

According to him, through the "Crossroads of the World," Armenia can connect other countries along the north-south and east-west axes. "Yerevan is also ready to open the Armenia-Turkey railway, restore and reopen the two previously existing Armenia-Turkey highways, he added, expressing the opinion that this will have a significant impact not only on the Caucasus region but also on international economic and cultural relations in general, in the context of ensuring regional and global security," the Armenian leader emphasized.

Armenia and Azerbaijan to Continue Peace Talks in Washington

On December 13, Armenian Ambassador for Special Affairs Edmon Marukyan said that Azerbaijan accepted the invitation of the United States to hold a meeting between Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan in Washington.

"Now we have information about it, the work on Brussels has never stopped; the work continues to hold the meeting in Brussels," he noted. According to the ambassador, this meeting should take place in January 2024.

Marukyan added that there is still no agreed draft of the peace treaty to be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia: "The hope is that we can reach the point where the text of the agreement will be finalized at this meeting in January, to which Azerbaijan also agreed at the level of foreign ministers."

Recently, the relations between Azerbaijan and the US were strained after James O'Brien, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, accused Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. After several weeks, the US sent O'Brien to Azerbaijan to normalize relations between the two countries.