Middle East

Azerbaijan Sentences Former Karabakh Leaders to Life in Prison

Arayik Harutyunyan

Photographer: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Azerbaijan sentenced Armenian leaders of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to life in prison at the end of trials that followed its military seizure of the breakaway enclave.

The jail terms were announced on Thursday as US Vice President JD Vance prepares to visit Azerbaijan and Armenia to advance a peace deal between the neighboring Caucasus states after more than three decades of conflict over the territory.