What Pashinyan and the CP Members Discussed in a Closed Meeting

The newspaper "Hraparak" reports: "The day before yesterday, while Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan was in Turkey, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hurried to the parliament for a closed meeting with a group of deputies from the "Civil Contract" faction. Only a few members of the faction attended the meeting with the Prime Minister, as many of the deputies were on business trips.

The meeting was brief. The purpose of Pashinyan's visit to parliament was to convey news regarding the peace treaty, specifically to inform his teammates that Armenia has once again presented its proposals to the Azerbaijani side and is awaiting a response. Pashinyan did not provide details about the proposals, arguing that there had not been significant changes compared to the previous ones. Additionally, as discussions are ongoing and no final agreement has been reached, discussing the content is deemed pointless, as Azerbaijan might reject the official proposals from Yerevan for various reasons.

Pashinyan expressed hope that the peace treaty would be signed within the current year, as, in his impression, the positions of the sides have significantly moved closer together. However, he added that the only issue concerning him is what will happen after the signing of that document.

He informed CP members that one key requirement from the Armenian side is to include in the upcoming document all the guarantees that a lasting peace in the region will be ensured after the signing of the treaty. It is noteworthy that after discussing with his teammates the day before, yesterday at the beginning of a government meeting, he announced that Armenia has completed the latest phase of work on the draft peace and normalization agreement with Azerbaijan and has communicated the proposals to the Azerbaijani side as well as to the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“When we talk about proposals, we should consider the entire draft document with our proposals. We are working on the draft with the understanding of producing a document that we are ready to sign at any moment. Of course, it is clear that this document must be acceptable to Azerbaijan. We hope that the noticeable progress observed after three rounds of negotiations can be developed,” stated the Prime Minister.

It should also be noted that just a few days ago, Armen Grigoryan stated that "we have worked on the text handed over by Azerbaijan, sent it, and then the Azerbaijani side worked on it and again sent it back to us. Now it is the Armenian side that is working on it, and I believe that this text will be ready as soon as possible to be forwarded to the Azerbaijani side. At this moment, I cannot say how that transfer will take place, but I believe that the public will be informed about it.” He also mentioned that there is a reference to Artsakh in the peace treaty.

Political circles are convinced that this document has already been sent to Azerbaijan by Ararat Mirzoyan through Turkey the day before. However, it is important to remember that one of the principal points of the peace treaty, which prevents the parties from reconciling their positions, is the recording of the Artsakh issue in the document. According to the West, Armenia must abandon the Artsakh issue by recognizing it as part of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and conclude the treaty, while the Russian version states that the peace treaty, with points on unblocking roads, delimiting borders, and others, must be implemented, and the Artsakh issue should be left for an uncertain future.

Recall that despite Nikol Pashinyan's announcement in September that he was ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan according to the Russian version, subsequently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded that in Prague, Pashinyan had acquired another arrangement and now Armenia wants us to confirm our proposal regarding the status of Karabakh. During a quadrilateral format meeting in Prague, Azerbaijan and Armenia reaffirmed the declaration signed in Alma-Ata in 1991, recognizing each other's territorial integrity.

Incidentally, there are recent reports that a point has been introduced in the peace treaty regarding internationally recognized constructive "ambiguity.” This is used in severe solutions so that each party can interpret it in its way. In other words, Baku can say that yes, Armenia recognizes Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, while Armenia can declare that "the issue of Artsakh’s status remains unresolved.”