Europe to accompany Armenia and Azerbaijan on their way to peace - Olaf Scholz
ArmInfo. Europe as a whole will accompany Armenia and Azerbaijan on the path to establishing peace with each other. As stated on the website of the Federal Government, German Chancellor Scholz announced this during a press conference at the summit of the European Political Community in London.
According to Scholz, the conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev was important for him. "This year is extremely important for this region. It can become a year of peace if the parties continue to take effective and bold steps towards each other.
I took the opportunity to urge the parties to do so. Europe as a whole will accompany Armenia and Azerbaijan on the path to establishing peace with each other, which will last a long time and ensure long- term good cooperation between these two countries, which are neighbors," Scholz emphasized.
When asked by the journalist whether it is possible to say that the results of today's meetings with Pashinyan and Aliyev inspire him with optimism regarding the possibility of achieving a quick peace between Yerevan and Baku, the German Chancellor noted that both countries are conducting intensive negotiations with each other. According to him, they are quite constructive, many agreements have already become visible, including regarding some border issues, the return of populated areas and regarding prisoners.
"Something has really happened, and everyone I've talked to here believes that more than 90 percent of the problems standing in the way of a final peace agreement have been resolved. I know from negotiations that the last percent can sometimes be very difficult, but I say: I look at this much more encouragingly than, for example, last year. We have always supported this and are ready to continue to do so, and both sides perceive us as a good interlocutor," concluded Scholz.