Nikol Pashinyan Clarifies Under What Conditions a Peace Treaty Will Be Signed

“If Azerbaijan publicly reaffirms its commitment to these principles, then we can practically consider the signing of the peace treaty a matter of a short time,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

According to him, there is nothing new in the principles. The first principle, according to him, is that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity with the understanding that Armenia’s territory is 29,800 km² and Azerbaijan’s is 86,600 km².

The Prime Minister stated that the Alma-Ata Declaration should serve as the political basis for the delimitation and, subsequently, the demarcation of borders. Before demarcation, he emphasized the importance of reaching an agreement on which maps will serve as the basis for border marking and delimitation: “In our opinion, this should take place based on the maps of 1975, but it is not that our position is very rigid, because there have been maps after 1975 that, for the most part, reproduce the same.”

“Third, the opening of communications will take place on the basis of the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, legislation, equality, and reciprocity,” he added.

According to the Prime Minister, Azerbaijan's top officials, while claiming agreement with the peace process, have not reaffirmed their commitment: “This raises doubts that when they speak of peace, they intend to realize their certain alleged aspirations towards Armenia's territorial integrity afterwards.”

Pashinyan is unclear about what is preventing Azerbaijan from holding face-to-face talks with him based on the three principles.