In 2022, Russia Presented a Written Proposal, We Accepted, Azerbaijan Rejected: Pashinyan

The key disagreements revolve around Nagorno-Karabakh, but that's not the only issue. This was announced by Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan in Prague while responding to a question about the issues on which the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan remain at odds after the Washington negotiations.

“Despite the fact that in Prague and Sochi there was a recognition that Armenia and Azerbaijan acknowledge each other's territorial integrity, we still cannot reach an agreement on the formulations in the draft peace treaty that would give us confidence that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia's 29,800 square kilometers,” stated the head of the Armenian government.

Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized that there are misinterpretations regarding the addressing of the rights of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and these remain unresolved. 

“Next, any agreement, even the most unambiguous writings, has misinterpretations, and how these misinterpretations should be resolved is ultimately a very important issue after the signing of the peace treaty, concerning the guarantee of peace. This includes both international mechanisms and local ones, particularly regarding the withdrawal of troops; shouldn’t we have a demilitarized zone?” he noted.

There are misinterpretations regarding the addressing of the rights of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and these remain. “Of course, there is some movement; if previously the difference between the parties' positions was 1 km, now it is 990 meters, that is movement, but a huge difference still exists,” the Prime Minister added.

Armenia is working on the idea that the security and rights of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh should be discussed in the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue format. When asked whether Armenia is moving towards the option of suspending the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and having Russian peacekeepers leave or calling on the West to provide security guarantees for the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan responded that Armenia is working on the option that the security and rights of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh should be discussed in the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue format, which should have some international involvement: “Otherwise, this topic and agenda can simply be forgotten by Azerbaijan.”

At the same time, the Prime Minister insisted that the discussions started in Washington could continue in Moscow, rejecting claims that there are distinct Western and Russian proposals. “Sometimes I read materials, listen to interviews, and I want to understand what these people are talking about. If I weren’t the Prime Minister, I’d think that I don’t know something,” Pashinyan said, adding that there have been approaches from the West, but not a proposal written on paper.

“The approach is verbal, and if we put that on paper, it may become clear that we misunderstood; it may not be as we thought. In August 2022, the Russian side presented a written proposal, we accepted it, Azerbaijan rejected it. We have not seen Russia putting that option back on the table a second time,” the Prime Minister stated.

In response to a clarifying question about whether there was such an attempt in Sochi, Pashinyan reiterated his answer that Moscow has not made such an attempt since. “Whenever this is put on the table, we are ready to move forward with it. But to what extent does the Russian Federation pursue that option?” asked the head of the Armenian government.