NATO is optimistic regarding the joint declaration signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia Javier Colomina, News.az reports.

Colomina said this during an interview with Georgia's Channel One.

"NATO sees this as a very positive development. We support the improvement of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We also support the efforts of the European Union and the United States in this process, as well as the measures taken by both countries on a bilateral basis," he said.

Colomina added that NATO encourages Armenia's aspirations to move away from Moscow.

"Armenians are free to make their own decisions, and I think they are already starting to move closer to us - asking for more cooperation, demanding more political dialog and more NATO presence. We support any decisions of our partners that we think are useful for stability in the region. This is very important for us," he said.