BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 9. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the joint statement of Azerbaijan and Armenia on their intention to normalize relations, UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing, TurkicWorld reports.

According to him, the UN Secretary General hopes that the statement will serve to ensure long-term peace.

"The UN calls on the parties to use this agreement to develop mutual trust and ensure long-term peace for the well-being of their peoples and the region," Dujarric stressed.

Following the talks between the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, an agreement has been reached on taking tangible steps towards building confidence between two countries.

Driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Azerbaijan releases 32 Armenian military servicemen.

In its turn, driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Armenia releases 2 Azerbaijani military servicemen. The list of 32 people does not and cannot include the leaders of the notorious regime who committed war crimes against the Azerbaijani people and crimes against humanity - Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan, Ruben Vardanyan, including such persons as Vagif Khachaturyan, Alyosha Khosrovyan.

In its turn, driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Armenia releases 2 Azerbaijani military servicemen.

As a sign of good gesture, the Republic of Armenia supports the bid of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the 29th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, by withdrawing its own candidacy. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan do hope that the other countries within the Eastern European Group will also support Azerbaijan’s bid to host. As a sign of good gesture, the Republic of Azerbaijan supports the Armenian candidature for Eastern European Group COP Bureau membership.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan will continue their discussions regarding the implementation of more confidence building measures, effective in the near future and call on the international community to support their efforts that will contribute to building mutual trust between two countries and will positively impact the entire South Caucasus region.