Pashinyan on the Ideas of Dissolving the OSCE Minsk Group, Revenge, and Unresolved Points of the Peace Agreement

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, commented on the statements made by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, regarding the reasons for the failure to sign a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

Pashinyan rejected claims that Armenia is arming itself to take revenge on Azerbaijan for its defeat in the Second Karabakh War.

Armenia is acquiring weapons to protect its borders and territorial integrity, meaning for defensive purposes, he said in an interview with Armenpress.

To defend against ground attacks, Armenia must have artillery, missiles, and other weaponry. Azerbaijan, too, is acquiring non-defensive weaponry. According to all international norms, Armenia has the right to do so and is obligated to protect its citizens, which is its legitimate right.

“Is this a threat to Azerbaijan? No, because we have explicitly recognized and continue to recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within the borders of Soviet Azerbaijan. We expect Azerbaijan, just like us, without leaving room for interpretations, to recognize the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia in accordance with the agreements reached and refrain from a policy of threats,” he stated.

“Every day, threats are directed at Armenia, yet even under these conditions, we do not consider the possibility of using military means to reclaim occupied parts of our sovereign territory, which span over 200 square kilometers, because institutional decisions regarding border delimitation allow for resolving this issue peacefully and through negotiations,” Pashinyan added.

Yerevan has even proposed that Baku establish a bilateral mechanism for mutual arms control, but Azerbaijan has not responded. Moreover, Azerbaijan’s military budget is three times larger than that of Armenia.

“I can guarantee that Armenia has no intention, goal, or plan to attack Azerbaijan, nor will it take such a path. If Azerbaijan has no intention of attacking Armenia, then the likelihood of escalation in the region is zero,” the prime minister emphasized.

When asked about the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Pashinyan said a bilateral commission would meet soon to discuss which part of the border to focus on for further delimitation.

Regarding regional communications, Yerevan has proposed a solution that “would be fully acceptable to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

“This proposal has been sent to Azerbaijan in writing, and we await their positive response.”

Pashinyan agreed with Aliyev on the matter of withdrawing lawsuits filed by Yerevan against Baku in international courts. He also expressed no objection to the non-deployment of third-country forces on the border but with certain conditions. “When a peace agreement is signed, this is logical, and this idea is acceptable to us,” said the Armenian prime minister. He clarified that mutual agreement on these issues implies that the parties will not revisit them or escalate bilateral relations in the future.

Touching on the non-deployment of third-country forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, Yerevan suggests applying this principle to already delimited sections of the border.

Once the full delimitation of the border is complete, there will be no need for the presence of third-party forces along any section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Pashinyan added.

“Proposals regarding two unresolved articles of the peace agreement were sent to Azerbaijan more than a month ago, and we have yet to receive any response,” Pashinyan emphasized.

The Armenian prime minister also welcomed Aliyev’s proposal to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group.

The existence of this format is illogical when there is no conflict. “However, we want to ensure that the issue of the so-called ‘Western Azerbaijan’ does not imply the implementation of aggressive policies against Armenia,” the prime minister stated.

As for accusations related to the Armenian Constitution, Pashinyan noted that there is “no direct or indirect mention of Nagorno-Karabakh” in it.

According to him, the Constitutional Court of Armenia on September 26, 2024, affirmed that the Declaration of Independence pertains solely to the provisions reflected in the Constitution. No article of the Constitution mentions Nagorno-Karabakh.

By the same logic, Yerevan is concerned that Azerbaijan’s Constitution contains territorial claims against Armenia. The preamble of Azerbaijan’s Constitution references the Constitutional Act of October 18, 1991, which in turn refers to the Declaration of Independence of the Azerbaijan Republic from May 28, 1918.

This declaration states that the First Azerbaijan Republic includes the Eastern and Southern Caucasus, covering about 60% of modern Armenia’s territory.

“We are not raising the issue of changing Azerbaijan’s Constitution, as this would derail the peace process. Moreover, the agreed portion of the peace agreement includes an article stipulating that the parties cannot refer to their domestic legislation,” Pashinyan said.

Additionally, another agreed article of the treaty states that the parties recognize each other’s territorial integrity, have no territorial claims, and commit not to raise such claims in the future, he noted.