Russia on Friday welcomed a joint statement by Armenia and Azerbaijan, made the day before, about their desire to normalize relations after three decades of conflict over control of the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Baku recaptured in September, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“The joint statement of the administration of the President of Azerbaijan and the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Armenia, which confirms the mutual intention to normalize relations and conclude a peace agreement (…) was received with satisfaction,” said the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria. Zakharova.

“Therefore, we are ready to provide assistance for unblocking transport routes, delimiting the border, concluding a peace agreement and establishing contacts with civil society,” she added in a statement.

In a joint statement, Armenia and Azerbaijan on Thursday pledged “concrete measures” to normalize their highly strained relations and reaffirmed their intention to “sign a peace agreement”, a statement that was welcomed internationally.

The two countries also agreed to release 32 Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for two Azerbaijani soldiers. However, the stated goal of normalization seems far-fetched, given the little progress made recently in negotiations between these two states in the Caucasus.

Previously, several rounds of negotiations, conducted separately by Russia, the European Union and the United States, did not yield results.

Russia, the traditional arbiter in the region, has lost its influence over its war in Ukraine and has strained relations with its Armenian ally, which accuses Moscow of abandoning it in the face of Azerbaijan’s onslaught.