Armenia and Azerbaijan hold substantive talks, no big breakthrough

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates July 10, 2025. Press Service of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia/Handout via REUTERS

TBILISI/BAKU (Reuters) -The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan held substantive talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, their governments said, in what amounted to the most serious direct negotiations yet in a fitful process to end almost four decades of conflict.

The two sides said in March they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement, but progress since then has been sporadic and slow.