Kazakh president ready to provide venue for Yerevan-Baku peace treaty talks

YEREVAN. April 15 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan is ready to provide a venue for Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty talks, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

"We hail the aspiration of Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace agreement. Kazakhstan is ready to give the utmost assistance and provide a venue for negotiations. Our primary objective is to bring the two friendly countries closer together and to open the way to peace and stable development in the region," Tokayev said at a press briefing on Monday, following negotiations with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan.

Kazakhstan highly appreciates Armenia's desire to restore transport ties in the region and the Armenian government's Crossroads of Peace initiative, he said.

Kazakhstan is ready to boost exports to Armenia to $350 million, Tokayev said.

In turn, Pashinyan told the press briefing about Armenia's readiness to bring endurable peace to the South Caucasus "on the three principles approved by Armenia and Azerbaijan, namely, the mutual recognition of territorial integrity based on the Almaty Declaration, border delimitation, and unblocking of regional communications on the principles of sovereignty and reciprocity."

"The implementation of the Armenian government's Crossroads of Peace project can drastically change the situation in the region," Pashinyan said.

The negotiations addressed the opportunity of further broadening Armenian-Kazakh economic cooperation, including that in transport and logistics, he said.