MOSCOW - Azerbaijan and Armenia, with Russia as a mediator, agreed on Monday to actively prepare for the conclusion of a peace treaty in order to achieve long-term peace in the South Caucasus.

The consensus was part of a statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted during their trilateral talks in Russia's Sochi.

In the statement, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strict observance of all the previous tripartite agreements in the interests of the comprehensive normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, ensuring peace, stability, security and sustainable economic development in the South Caucasus.

They pledged to make additional efforts to urgently resolve the remaining issues, including those in the humanitarian sphere.

Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use, and to resolve all the problems solely on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders.

"It was a very useful meeting. It, in my opinion, has created a very good atmosphere for possible future agreements on certain fundamental issues," Putin said after the talks.