Pashinyan agreed to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his government is ready to simultaneously sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and a statement on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG). However, this is not enough for Baku. The appeal is not identical to the completed legal procedure.

“Indeed, if we are closing the page of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and we are closing it, then why do we need a format that deals with its settlement? But the OSCE Minsk Group de facto has a broader context, and we want to make sure that Azerbaijan does not regard this step as a step towards closing the conflict on its territory and transferring it to Armenia. We propose to conclude a peace agreement and simultaneously dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group. That is, the signing of both documents on the same day,” Pashinyan stressed.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, discussed this topic during the Antalya Diplomatic Forum. “The Karabakh issue has already been resolved, and these territories are part of Azerbaijan. Armenia has also recognized this. In such a situation, Armenia’s constant efforts to continue the activities of the Minsk Group raise questions for us,” the Azerbaijani diplomat said.

In turn, Mirzoyan said that the statement on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group could be signed 10 minutes after the conclusion of the peace treaty. “We must sign an agreement, end this conflict institutionally and dissolve (the OSCE Minsk Group. – “NG”) on the same day, if you want. Or with a difference of 10 minutes… Let’s sign these documents one by one. And I’m not even saying which document to sign first. Let’s sign a peace treaty. Let’s submit a joint statement to the OSCE member states or the OSCE secretariat on the dissolution,” he said.

Meanwhile, the head of the South Caucasus Research Center, Farhad Mammadov, explained to NG that it was not enough for Baku to call for the dissolution of the international organization. “In order to eliminate the OSCE Minsk Group, it is necessary to hold a vote among all OSCE members. If Liechtenstein speaks out against it, the joint statement of Armenia and Azerbaijan will mean nothing. Therefore, first we dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group, then we sign a peace treaty. Theoretically, it is possible to make it before the end of 2025. In September, the OSCE will discuss the budget for next year, this is a great opportunity to decide what to spend on the Minsk Group no longer necessary,” Mammadov said.

Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Atlas Azerbaijani Center for Political Studies, told NG that Pashinyan’s regime is temporary, and the next Armenian authorities will not necessarily support his decisions. Therefore, statements and promises alone are not enough.

“Why wait for the signing of a peace treaty to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group? On the contrary, the sooner this happens, the fewer problems there will be between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Baku believes in the actions, not the words and promises of Armenian officials,” the expert concluded.

In turn, Vadim Mukhanov, head of the Caucasus sector of the IMEMO RAS, believes that Azerbaijan methodically eliminates any intermediaries from the conflict with Armenia, and Yerevan follows in its wake, hoping to somehow advance the stalled peace talks. At the same time, the OSCE Minsk Group turned out to be the most defenseless target for Baku, since the organization has not actually functioned since 2022.

“But that doesn’t mean it was useless before. On the contrary, for a long time the OSCE Minsk Group effectively maintained peace in the region, its representatives regularly traveled to Baku and Yerevan.… However, their efforts did not always meet the expectations of the parties to the conflict. As a result, the second Karabakh war broke out, after which the role of international mediators began to decrease,” Mukhanov believes.

However, the OSCE Minsk Group is not the only obstacle to peace. Azerbaijan refuses to sign a peace agreement with Armenia until it changes its Constitution. As political analyst Mikael Zolyan told NG, “apparently, the Azerbaijani authorities hope that the geopolitical situation may still change and they will be able to get something more from Armenia.” “For example, the so-called Zangezur corridor. On the other hand, if major regional or global players put pressure on Baku, it may change its mind and sign a peace treaty without preconditions. To prevent this from happening, he is seeking, among other things, the liquidation of the OSCE Minsk Group. For example, if the structure is preserved, Russia, France and the United States may one day remember the Karabakh Armenians and start using their fate to put pressure on Azerbaijan,” Zolyan said.