Negotiations on Peace Agreement with Azerbaijan Must Take Place Without Preconditions

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, emphasizes that negotiations on a peace agreement with Azerbaijan should take place without preconditions. The Minister recalls that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approached the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to organize discussions regarding the peace agreement.

In an interview with Armenpress, Ararat Mirzoyan addressed the five principles of the peace agreement that Azerbaijan has conveyed to the Armenian side, presenting Armenia's stance on them. The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan recently made public what they claim are the five principles of the peace agreement conveyed to Armenia. Is this indeed the document provided to Armenia? Yes, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister has publicized the proposals submitted to Armenia. Interestingly, a letter dated February 21 was only passed to the Armenian side on March 10.

What is the Armenian side's position regarding these proposals? First, it is crucial to emphasize that every negotiation concerning the peace agreement must proceed without preconditions. Regarding the proposals themselves, both countries, by jointly signing the agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 8, 1991, have already recognized each other's territorial integrity and accepted that they have no territorial claims against each other. It should also be noted that the points mentioned in the proposals do not fully reflect the entire agenda of existing issues.

For the Armenian side, it is fundamental and essential that the rights and freedoms of the Artsakh people are clearly guaranteed and that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is definitively clarified. For us, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not a territorial question but a matter of rights. As we have already reported, the Armenian side has responded to the Azerbaijani proposal in accordance with this position.

The Azerbaijani proposals also address the delimitation and demarcation processes between the two countries, as well as the unblocking of transport infrastructure in the region. How are these processes progressing? We believe that the agreements enshrined in the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021, and November 26, 2021, must be fully implemented, and we remain consistent in this regard. As you know, we have even proposed comprehensive measures to implement these agreements, such as the proposal to begin the delimitation process with mirror troop withdrawals and the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism, which, however, the Azerbaijani side rejected.

What format do you envision for the potential negotiations on the peace agreement? Earlier, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already announced that it had appealed to the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to organize negotiations on the peace agreement, based on the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act.