Azerbaijan's President: We Are Closer to Peace with Armenia than Ever Before

The President of Azerbaijan said on Sunday that his country is 'closer to peace with Armenia than ever before'; Ilham Aliyev made these remarks six months after Baku regained the Nagorno-Karabakh region from the Armenians. According to Reuters, during a meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, in Baku, he stated, 'Today we are in an active phase of peace negotiations with Armenia and we are now closer to peace than ever before.' Based on a report published on NATO's website, the NATO Secretary General also 'welcomed the move towards peace between the two countries' and said, 'I encourage you to take this opportunity to achieve a sustainable peace treaty with Armenia.' Baku and Yerevan exchanged a number of prisoners of war last fall as part of a joint agreement to reach a sustainable peace treaty; an agreement that the European Union welcomed as a 'major step' towards peace in the region. These two neighbors of Iran then issued a joint statement in December announcing their desire to achieve a sustainable peace agreement and have since held multiple negotiations, including a two-day meeting in Germany's capital in February. The first day of peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan was hosted by Germany. Border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan have increased the death toll to four Armenian soldiers. Armenia's envoy to the European Union called for 'decisive action' from the West against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has abandoned its plan for a land corridor through Armenia.