Aliyev and Pashinyan meet on March 29, 2019. Official photo

Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders met in Vienna on March 29, and according to CivilNet’s expert Tatul Hakobyan, who was part of the media pool at the summit, for the first time since the early 2000s there is a positive mood around Armenia-Azerbaijan talks. Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders last came close to agreement on Karabakh, prior to the Robert Kocharyan – Heydar Aliyev summit in U.S. in 2001.

According to Hakobyan, this change in mood has to do with the stabilization of cease-fire, as well as increased self-confidence of Nikol Pashinyan and vulnerability felt by the Ilham Aliyev regime.

Following the meeting, Aliyev and Pashinyan instructed their foreign ministers to develop several Armenian-Azerbaijani “humanitarian” initiatives, something that Azerbaijan previously opposed.