We Have Almost Reached Our Goal: Ararat Mirzoyan

During his official visit to Brazil, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan gave an interview to the local newspaper Folha. When asked by a journalist about the finalization of the peace treaty text with Azerbaijan and the signing of the agreement, Minister Mirzoyan responded: “After decades of conflict, we believe, and are confident, that there is a real opportunity to turn the page of enmity and establish genuine peace and lasting stability in our region. However, realizing this requires a constructive approach from both sides. In Armenia, we see this opportunity and are fully committed to this agenda for peace.

Finally, we have managed to finalize the draft of the agreement in cooperation with our Azerbaijani partners. This peace treaty includes a number of important provisions that, if signed, ratified, and implemented, could become a solid foundation for further steps. I mainly refer to the mutual recognition of territorial integrity; we recognize that integrity based on the borders that existed between our countries at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991). This is of vital importance. We also commit to refraining from the use of force and interfering in each other's internal affairs, as well as adhering to other agreements.

We are ready to immediately start consultations regarding the venue and date of the signing. Unfortunately, we see that Azerbaijan is introducing 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 our goal; we just need a little more political will—a strong political will—to meet and sign the agreement. We have also proposed to unblock transport routes, starting with the railway that operated during the Soviet era, and have suggested establishing a mechanism for bilateral control and verification of weapons since Azerbaijan has also expressed concerns on this issue.”

When asked if it would indeed be possible to reach the signing of the agreement in light of these preconditions, Minister Mirzoyan replied: “We are ready for the immediate signing of the agreement. However, what we hear from Azerbaijan does not give the impression that they are ready. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, they continue to introduce new preconditions.”