EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa have hailed a US-brokered deal to end decades of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan and called for its speedy implentation.
Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan have long feuded over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories.
They went to war twice over the disputed Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning 2023 offensive, sparking the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
The agreement signed Friday in the White House is “a major development… paving the way to lasting, sustainable peace for both countries and across the entire region,” the European Commission and Council presidents said in a joint statement late Friday.
“It will now be important to ensure the timely implementation of the agreed steps to guarantee steady and uninterrupted progress towards full-fledged normalisation,” they added.
US President Donald Trump said Armenia and Azerbaijan committed “to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
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© Agence France-Presse
