ISTANBUL

The EU "warmly" welcomed the initial signing Friday of a peace agreement and the establishment of interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House.

"The signing of the Political Declaration by (Armenian) Prime Minister (Nikol) Pashinyan and (Azerbaijani) President (Ilham) Aliyev, in the presence of President (Donald) Trump in the White House, is a major development for both Armenia and Azerbaijan, paving the way to lasting, sustainable peace for both countries and across the entire region, also culminating years of EU efforts," said a statement from European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of the.

The statement underlined the importance of being sure of the timely implementation of agreed steps to guarantee steady and uninterrupted progress toward full-fledged normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan.

Noting that efforts by Costa and von der Leyen, which have boosted Aliyev and Pashinyan to take decisive steps on their ties track in recent years, the statement said the bloc "strongly supports" the normalization process between the two nations, expressing a readiness to "to invest in regional connectivity and full opening, to benefit first and foremost populations divided by conflict legacies, and to bring the region closer to sustainable peace, stability and prosperity."