ISTANBUL

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday held talks on the sidelines of the third and final day of the 16th BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

A statement by the Azerbaijani presidency said both parties discussed advancing the bilateral agenda with regard to the peace agreement, border delimitation and demarcation, and other issues of mutual interest.

The readout said foreign ministers of the two countries were asked to continue bilateral talks to conclude and sign the peace agreement as soon as possible.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh -- a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an anti-terrorist operation after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.​​​​​​​