Pashinyan reports progress in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan

There are positive advances in the negotiations between Yerevan and Baku. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on November 22.

"There are some positive advances in the negotiations with Azerbaijan, and we do not want to assume that Azerbaijan, raising the issue of changing Armenia's Constitution, is trying to bring the negotiations to a deadlock," he told Armenia' s Public Television Company.

Pashinyan specified that Armenia is doing its best to sign a peace agreement by the end of 2024.

He noted that Armenia is ready to drop international lawsuits against Azerbaijan on a mutual principle, provided the states sign the peace agreement. Pashinyan also added that Armenia has made an offer to Azerbaijan to cancel the actions of the European Union (EU) civil mission in the areas to be delimited.

In addition, the societies of the two states, according to the prime minister, should recognize the countries within the borders of the USSR and start a careful development of relations, including the establishment of economic ties.

"Armenia and Azerbaijan should not only de jure, but also de facto, at social-psychological and all levels, recognize that Soviet Azerbaijan is independent Azerbaijan by its territory, and Soviet Armenia is independent Armenia. The sides should fix this reality, leave each other alone in political sense, not to pull each other and start with opening communications, establishing economic ties. Very carefully," Pashinyan said.

As the Armenian Prime Minister pointed out, these cautious processes will grow later, and the South Caucasus countries may have common interests. This, in Pashinyan's opinion, is the essence of the strategic deal, which he earlier proposed to Baku.

Earlier, on October 24, Pashinyan proposed Baku to sign a peace treaty with Armenia. He specified that the project also includes an agreement to pursue a policy of non-interference in each other's internal affairs and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Before that, on November 23, it became known that the National Assembly of Armenia ratified the provisions on the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan in the first reading. 67 deputies voted for the adoption of the draft. It assumes that disputes between the republics will be resolved not militarily or by force, but on a special platform.

On August 30, Yerevan and Baku signed a provision on joint activities of commissions on border delimitation. Later, political scientist Artur Ataev told Izvestia that the peace agreement between the countries does not guarantee a complete cessation of hostilities in the future; the document will only stabilize the situation for a while.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been aggravated, among other things, against the backdrop of disputed ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh. On October 5, 2023, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a declaration recognizing Azerbaijan's borders, which included Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite this, there are still periodic armed clashes on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia.