Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has refrained from answering the question of whether it would be possible to agree on a peace treaty with Armenia by the end of the year.
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were asked the question on the sidelines of CIS summit in Moscow.
Asked when the agreement would be signed, the Azerbaijani President replied: “When we agree on everything.”
In response to a clarifying question about whether this would be possible by the end of the year, he shrugged his shoulders.
Pashinyan, however, said that the volume of agreements reached was sufficient to sign the agreement right now.
Addressing the meeting of the CIS Heads of State earlier today, PM Pashinyan reiterated his conviction that “peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not only possible, but also within reach.”
“Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced in recent months that the draft agreement “On the establishment of peace and interstate relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan” has been agreed upon by at least 80 percent. Recently, in the level of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, an agreement was reached to activate the work towards the completion of the approval of the draft peace treaty,” PM Pashinyan said.
“In principle, we can act according to the following logic, which is what we propose to Azerbaijan: to sign what has already been agreed, thus having not only de facto, but also de jure peace, and continue working on all other issues. In any case, it is impossible to develop such a peace treaty that will answer all questions and regulate all aspects of bilateral relations. Whatever the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is, there will inevitably remain important, fundamental issues that must be agreed upon, resolved, and new treaties must be signed,” he noted.
Moreover, he said, after a peace deal is signed and ratified, the solution of other issues will be much easier, because a completely different situation will prevail in the region.
“And at this stage, we have to make a decision on a number of fundamental issues that can become a solid basis for the establishment of peace between our countries. It is about mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. I am talking about the obligation to confirm the absence of territorial claims towards each other and not to present such claims in the future. I am talking about maintaining the principle of non-use of force and threat of force, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, establishment of diplomatic relations and creation of bilateral mechanisms for the fulfillment of obligations assumed by the parties within the framework of the peace treaty,” Nikol Pashinyan stated.
“The wording of all these issues has already been agreed by the parties in the draft agreement “On establishment of peace and interstate relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan”, and we are ready to sign this document already this month, and this is our official position,” the Armenian Prime Minister emphasized.
