Russian President Putin, Azerbaijani President Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Pashnyan held a trilateral meeting on October 31 in the coastal city of Sochi in southern Russia to discuss the issue of Nagorno Karabakh. According to the website of the Russian President, the trilateral talks were held at the proposal of the Russian side. After the talks, Putin stated that the leaders of the three countries generally believed that the talks were "very beneficial", and the Russian side believed that the talks "created a good atmosphere for reaching consensus on certain principle issues in the future.". Putin said that the talks passed a joint statement, but failed to reach consensus on all issues. He stated that the Russian side will make every effort to ensure a final and comprehensive solution is reached. According to the joint statement released on the Russian President's website, all parties reiterated their strict adherence to the relevant consensus reached earlier, in order to promote the comprehensive normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and ensure regional peace, stability, security, and sustainable economic development. All parties also agreed not to use force or threaten to use force. Prior to the trilateral talks, Putin held bilateral talks with the leaders of both countries. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the issue of ownership of the Naka region. In 1994, both sides reached an agreement on a comprehensive ceasefire, but the two countries have been in a hostile state due to the Naqa issue, and armed conflicts have occurred from time to time. In September 2020, a new round of conflict broke out between the two countries over the Naqa issue. On November 9th of the same year, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia signed a statement declaring a comprehensive ceasefire in the Naka region from midnight Moscow time on the 10th. According to the statement, Russia is deploying peacekeeping personnel in the Naka region. (Lai Xin She)