Azerbaijan is Introducing Artificial Preconditions: Mirzoyan

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, gave an interview to Folha, one of Brazil's largest and most influential newspapers, during his official visit to Brazil. Mirzoyan discussed the finalization of the text of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan and the signing of the agreement.

“After decades of conflict, we believe, and we are confident, that there is a real opportunity to turn the page on hostility in our region and to establish genuine peace and lasting stability. However, to make this a reality, a constructive approach is required from both sides. In Armenia, we see this opportunity and are fully committed to this peace agenda. Finally, we have managed to finalize the draft of the agreement together with our Azerbaijani partners. This peace treaty defines a number of important provisions that, if signed, ratified, and implemented, can provide a solid foundation for future steps. I am primarily speaking about the mutual recognition of territorial integrity; we recognize this integrity based on the borders that existed between our countries at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991). This is vital. We also commit to refraining from the use of force and intervening in each other's internal affairs, as well as other arrangements. We are ready to immediately begin consultations regarding the venue and date of the signing.

However, unfortunately, we see that Azerbaijan is bringing various new, what I would call artificial, preconditions to the peace agenda, which complicates the signing of the agreement and, so to speak, the institutionalization of peace. We have almost reached the goal; we just need a little more political will—strong political will—to meet and sign the agreement. We have also proposed to unblock transportation routes, starting with the railway that operated during the Soviet years, and we have proposed the establishment of a bilateral monitoring and verification mechanism for weapons, as Azerbaijan has also expressed concerns on this matter.

In response to the question of whether it will be possible to actually reach the signing of the agreement in the presence of these preconditions, Minister Mirzoyan stated, “We are ready for the immediate signing of the agreement. However, what we hear from Azerbaijan does not create the impression that they are ready. Unfortunately, as I said, they continue to present new preconditions.”