Image grab from Aysor.am video.

Image grab from Aysor.am video.

Aliyev, Pashinyan Meet for ‘Informal’ Discussion

ByEmil Sanamyan

 

Image grab from Aysor.am video.
Image grab from Aysor.am video.

Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan had a 90-minute chat on January 22 as both attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In a subsequent Facebook live broadcast, Nikol Pashinyan said that he and Ilham Aliyev had previously agreed to meet, when they find themselves in same location and schedules permitting.

This was their fifth such opportunity. Aliyev and Pashinyan were first introduced to each other by Russian president Vladimir Putin as both were at the World Cup opening in Moscow last June. Their next opportunity to talk was during the NATO summit in Brussels in July, but there was no contact. The first substantial conversation took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in September, when the two attended the summit of post-Soviet states and agreed to reduced frontline tensions. A follow-up took place in December during another post-Soviet summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. But the Davos meeting appears to have been the longest so far.

After the meeting, Pashinyan said the conversation was mostly about the history of the peace process and that no new negotiations had taken place or were planned.