Russian President Vladimir Putin, during today’s meeting in Sochi with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the Karabakhconflict  issue once and for all.

"This conflict has been going on for decades. It must be ended at some point. I know that you have the political will for this, which we support in every way. Now, we need to find the key points here, and then in a tripartite format, which will allow us to make progress,” Putin said during his hour-long talk with Pashinyan.

Putin and Pashinyan are scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev later today to discuss the Karabkah issue, a main sticking point in the process to normalize relations between Yerevan and Baku.

Putin said Moscow will support Armenia, its strategic partner and ally, in this effort.

Putin said he, Pashinyan and Aliyev would also discuss the unblocking of transportation links in the South Caucasus to spur economic development in the region and ensure peace.

Pashinyan, reading from notes, thanked Putin for organizing today’s meeting and expressed the hope that Russia would back Armenia’s proposals to settle the Karabakh conflict and said the issue of the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, where they invaded in March of this year, remains a priority.

“Contrary to agreements at the highest level, the Azerbaijani troops have not yet left the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. I hope that this issue will be at today's discussions,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said Baku has yet to release all Armenian POWs and civilians held in Azerbaijan even though the matter has been raised on numerous occasions with Putin, in violation of the tripartite ceasefire agreement of 2020.

Pashinyan added that any transportation link connecting Azerbaijan proper and Nakhijevan must be fully controlled by Armenia.

(Those who want to read an official transcript of the meeting can access it HERE)