ASTANA – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia to hold talks at the foreign ministers’ level to prepare a peace treaty between the two states in Almaty, reported the Akorda press service on May 1.
President Tokayev expressed Kazakhstan’s readiness to assist in facilitating peace treaty negotiations by providing a respective platform. Photo credit: Akorda
During his official visit to Yerevan last month, President Tokayev expressed Kazakhstan’s readiness to assist in facilitating peace treaty negotiations by providing a respective platform. The Kazakh leader called for the establishment of a long-term peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“I proceed from the understanding that the upcoming meeting will contribute to the practical implementation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian agreements and will contribute to the soonest establishment of a lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” reads the presidential statement released on May 1.
It is symbolic that the peace talks will be held in Almaty. The former southern capital was a venue for the signing of the historic Alma-Ata Declaration in December 1991, a document that laid the foundation for independent development of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and endorsed the principles of determining interstate borders.
Following Kazakhstan’s proposal, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan informed United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the planned meeting in Almaty during a phone call on April 28.
