Armenia and Azerbaijan agree on historic return of villages | Conflict News [Video]

Armenia has agreed to return several villages to Azerbaijan in what both countries say is an important milestone as they edge towards a peace deal after fighting two wars since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada posted on the social media platform X on Friday that Armenia would return four villages near the countries’ shared border that had been “under occupation” since the early 1990s. He called it a “long-awaited historic event”.

In Armenia, the state news agency quoted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office as saying: “In this process, the Republic of Armenia receives a reduction in risks associated with border delimitation and security.”

It said the handover in practice involved “two and a half villages” because Azerbaijan already partly controlled the settlements involved, but it added that the demarcation of the border was a “significant event”.

The settlements are deserted but are strategically importantbecause they are close to …