Armenia and Azerbaijan have said they will exchange prisoners of war and work towards normalising their relations, in a move welcomed by the European Union and the United States.
The duo countries have been locked in a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan reclaimed after a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists in September.
The Caucasus neighbours have said a peace agreement could be signed by the end of the year, but peace talks — mediated separately by the European Union, the United States and Russia — have seen little progress.
The two sides agreed in Thursday’s joint statement to seize “a historical chance to achieve a long-awaited peace in the region”.
According to the statement Baku will free 32 Armenian prisoners of war, while Yerevan will release two Azerbaijani servicemen.
They also agreed to continue discussions on “more confidence building measures, effective in the near future.
