MOSCOW 

Azerbaijan and Armenia have already reached an agreement on nearly 80% of the peace treaty text, the Azerbaijani president said on Friday.

Speaking at a live-streamed international forum in the Italian city of Cernobbio, Ilham Aliyev expressed optimism about the prospects for peace in the South Caucasus.

"Recent developments in the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia show that we are on the path to peace. We are actively continuing discussions, and almost 80% of the peace treaty text has already been agreed upon," he said.

The Azerbaijani president also highlighted that both Baku and Yerevan have started the process of border delimitation.

"And not just delimitation, but also demarcation. Although it's a small first step - only a 13-kilometer section of our border, which spans over 1,000 kilometers, has been agreed upon - it is a step in the right direction," he emphasized.

Aliyev expressed hope that Azerbaijan's initiative to commence peace negotiations will ultimately lead to the signing of a peace treaty, which he believes "will be significant not only for the South Caucasus but for the entire world."

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.

Last September, Azerbaijan secured full control over Karabakh after a military operation led to the surrender of separatist forces in the region.