Armenia and Azerbaijan take steps towards peace and prisoner exchange

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to exchange prisoners of war and work towards normalizing their relations, with the aim of signing a peace treaty by the end of the year. The joint statement, welcomed by the EU and US, marks a major breakthrough in their decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. As part of the agreement, Armenia will support Azerbaijan's bid to host COP29 and lift its objections to Azerbaijan hosting next year's international conference on climate change. The two countries also expressed their intention to implement more confidence-building measures and called on the international community to support their efforts.