Pashinyan is in a hurry to sign a peace treaty

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proposed to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to immediately begin consultations on signing an agreed draft peace treaty. He also stressed that he was ready to sign the document. Thus, the Armenian leader responded to the calls of the international community to conclude a peace treaty as soon as possible. However, Azerbaijan continues to insist on fulfilling its preconditions.

“Azerbaijan and Armenia have announced the completion of negotiations on a historic peace agreement. We welcome this important step and urge both sides to proceed with its signing as soon as possible,” said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS) also expressed its full support for the agreement. The organization expressed hope for the “early signing of a final comprehensive peace agreement that will resolve all outstanding issues between the two sides.” The Arab League also added that diplomatic dialogue remains the only viable way to resolve the protracted conflict.

“It is time to commit ourselves to peace, sign and ratify the treaty, and usher in a new era of prosperity for the peoples of the South Caucasus,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

EU Council President Antonio Costa also called on Yerevan and Baku to move quickly to signing the treaty. “The European Union stands ready to support all further steps towards lasting peace and security in the South Caucasus,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry continues to report attacks from Armenia. Since March 16, such news has been appearing several times a day. Pashinyan claims that he gave clear instructions to the military not to violate the silence regime, and also suggested that Baku conduct a joint investigation into the alleged violations. However, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry considered his proposal to be another attempt to evade responsibility.

“The abstract and practically impossible proposals of the Armenian side have no basis, as it was during the almost 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.… As for Armenia’s alleged goodwill in connection with the completion of the text of the peace agreement and the establishment of interstate relations between the two countries, it is worth recalling how Armenia violated the process by all means, despite the fact that Azerbaijan took the first steps with a proposal to work on a peace agreement in early 2022,” the press service said.- Secretary of the Diplomatic Department Ayhan Hajizade.

In addition, he recalled that Baku demands that Yerevan remove from the Constitution the reference to the Declaration of Independence, which mentions the unification of Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani authorities also insist on the official dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“Pashinyan will have to overcome the last obstacle to signing the agreement – to change the Constitution of Armenia. He is already talking about this, but he is going to finally resolve the issue only after the parliamentary elections in 2026. However, events in the world and the region are developing rapidly, and a year is a long time for changing the Constitution,” Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Atlas Azerbaijan Center for Political Studies, told NG.

At the same time, according to the expert, the recent intensive violations of the ceasefire are increasing tensions in the region. “There are forces in the Armenian army that do not obey Pashinyan. They are not interested in the world. In my opinion, they are the ones who violate the ceasefire. If Pashinyan can’t control his army, that’s his problem. If the number of ceasefire violations increases, the signing of the peace agreement will be postponed, and the risk of a new war in the region will increase,” Shahinoglu said.

Meanwhile, the Armenian opposition warns that after the conclusion of the peace treaty, the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan will not stop. In particular, as the newspaper “Graparak” reported, Baku does not abandon the topic of the corridor, the resettlement of Azerbaijanis to Armenia, or the return of enclaves. So, according to the publication, during one of the last closed meetings of the ruling “Civil Contract” Pashinyan informed his team that Baku claims Tigranashen (the Azerbaijani enclave of Karki). The village is located on the road connecting Yerevan with the Syunik region.

Political analyst Tigran Kocharyan believes that Pashinyan is in a hurry to sign a peace treaty, as he is preparing for parliamentary elections, which may take place ahead of schedule. “In order to remain prime minister, he needs to have time to conclude a peace treaty. Otherwise, he will not be able to form a ruling coalition around himself. Pashinyan worries that Russia and the United States may soon come to an agreement on Ukraine, and then Moscow will begin to strengthen its position in the South Caucasus. This will have a negative impact on his board,” Kocharyan told NG. From his point of view, Azerbaijan is in no hurry to sign the document, as it is sure that it has not received everything from the Armenian authorities yet.