BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 30. Peace progress between Azerbaijan and Armenia represents a hopeful step toward greater stability and regional cooperation, said Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during an online briefing, Trend reports.
“The preliminary peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that was reached last August represents a hopeful step toward greater stability and regional cooperation.
If sustained, it could open new avenues for trade, investment, and economic integration across the broader region,” he said.
On August 8, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a Joint Declaration following the Washington meeting between the Azerbaijani President and the Armenian PM.
During the same meeting, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan initialed the draft “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia” and signed a joint letter to the current OSCE Chairperson regarding the closure of the OSCE Minsk process, the OSCE Chairperson’s personal representative for the conflict discussed at the Minsk Conference, and the High-Level Planning Group.