The Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, are meeting in Moscow today (25 May).
The meeting comes six days after the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, met in Moscow for meetings with their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. You can read more about this meeting here.
President Putin's spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, said that Putin will hold bilateral meetings with both Pashinyan and Aliyev, before holding a trilateral meeting later.
Meanwhile, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, speaking to RIA Novosti in the run-up to today's meeting, said that "Baku and Yerevan themselves should decide what corresponds to their own interests and how they intend to ensure a stable and reliable peace for their peoples. Moreover, it is understandable, the peace treaty should be based on long-term, stable decisions."
Galuzin also repeated Moscow's position that the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process should procede "in the context of the implementation of the complex of tripartite agreements agreed by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in November 2020", saying that the November 2020 trilateral declaration "includes steps to unblock transportation and economic connections, delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and develop civil society contacts" between the two countries.
US welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue no matter where it takes place
Last week, on Thursday (18 May), the US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel underlined that the US welcomes any dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, regardless of location.
Asked in a press briefing how the United States views the upcoming talks in Moscow at a ministerial level, Patel said:
"We continue to provide full support and engagement of the United States as these two countries work to secure a durable and dignified peace. We welcome the reports that the parties are going to continue to engage in these discussions, and we reiterate that – our conviction that peace is within reach and that direct dialogue is key to resolving these issues.
"Our view is that direct talks between the parties are of utmost importance, and we’re glad to see them happen and take place. Whether they are taking place in Arlington, in Brussels, in Moscow, our support with this effort will continue to endure."
You can read more about this here.