UN chief welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement on peace deal

UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the announcements by Armenia and Azerbaijan on the conclusion of negotiations on the draft peace agreement to end decades of conflict between the two countries, his spokesman said on Friday.

Guterres is encouraged by the progress made by the parties toward normalization of relations, and strongly supports their efforts to resolve all outstanding issues in the interest of long-term peace in the region, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said in a statement.

The statement came one day after Armenia and Azerbaijan announced they had agreed to a peace deal that would put an end to decades of conflict between the Caucasus neighbors.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations with Armenia have been concluded. The Armenian Foreign Ministry also said that the peace agreement is "ready for signing."

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region since 1988. Peace talks have been going on since 1994 when a ceasefire was agreed on, despite sporadic clashes since then. ■