How can we define ”road map" in Washington?

On April 30, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov paid a working visit to the United States at the invitation of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, it is planned to hold another round of negotiations with Armenia on the “peace agreement” project during the visit.

Earlier, the Turan news agency reported in Washington, citing diplomatic sources, that the United States is preparing to draw up a “roadmap” to resolve differences at this meeting.

On the same day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. As is known from the statement of Matthew Miller, the press secretary of the State Department website, Blinken stressed the importance of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace talks and promised that the US support would continue. Blinken expressed confidence in the possibility of peace agreement.

The other day, the US Secretary of State had a conversation with the Armenian Prime Minister.

Earlier, in mid-April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Azerbaijan and Armenia had agreed to hold the next round of talks in Russia: “Our comprehensive assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the preparation of a peace treaty has not decreased. Our partners have accepted our offer to hold the next round of bilateral negotiations on our territory.”

According to Turan, Rasim Musabekov, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on International Relations and inter-parliamentary relations, does not think that Russia will openly put any obstacles to this process: “On the contrary, when Russia sees that Washington and Brussels are taking the initiative again, the question of a meeting of representatives arose in Moscow.”

According to the deputy, Russia will also try not to stay on the sidelines on this issue: “But what kind of work will be carried out from below is another question. Russians will try to keep in their hands the opportunity to interfere in these processes in the future. However, I do not believe that an open process will be against it.”

Referring to the ”road map", Musabekov stressed that it is not only about the peace treaty. To his thinking, at the same time, there are complex issues: “The issue of delimitation, demarcation, opening of transport lines is on the agenda. Azerbaijan has agreed to internal discussions on the protection of the rights of Armenians in Karabakh. This issue is also on the agenda. There may also be some problems. All these issues in each particular case are not solved by a single document. Therefore, we are talking about a roadmap in which order to solve these issues.”

A member of the Milli Majlis Committee on Defense, Security and Anti-corruption, Elshad Mirbashir oglu, told Turan that Azerbaijan put forward conditions for Armenia to sign a peace agreement immediately after the victory in the Patriotic War, and these conditions fully comply with international law and norms. "The main principles were the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the rejection of unjustified territorial claims, the delimitation and demarcation of borders. These principles of Azerbaijan were known to America, Europe and Russia.”

According to him, if Armenia had fulfilled the conditions of the statement of November 10, the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia would have taken place today. "But Armenia has not fulfilled any of these conditions. The document was also signed in Moscow and Sochi, and meetings began to be held in Brussels. The meetings in Brussels initially raised hopes, and the work on the text of the peace agreement was literally launched. However, there was no result, only a civil mission of the European Union was sent to Armenia. It was as if Brussels had embarked on its mission. I repeat, not a single step has been taken towards the settlement of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.”

A member of the committee noted that statements about the preparation of a "road map" in the United States may be an imitation of the West in the current conditions. "If the West really wanted peace in the South Caucasus, it could really put pressure on Armenia to accept the conditions put forward by Azerbaijan. Because these are fair conditions. Unfortunately, the issue of normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations has become the subject of a geopolitical struggle.”

According to the MP, in such conditions, the only driving force of the peace agreement is the Azerbaijani state and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. "We are systematically taking steps to ensure our sovereignty throughout our territory. The establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road on April 23 has once again demonstrated that Azerbaijan itself is a force leading to a peace agreement. And external forces are trying to prevent Armenia from signing a peace agreement. And Azerbaijan, with its steps, puts Armenia and those who support it before the fact.”

Political commentator Zardusht Alizadeh told Radio Azadlig that Russia will try to interfere with Washington's initiatives: “Russia's desire is for the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and their results to be completely under Russia's control. That is, Russia is trying to put a piece of paper written by itself in front of Azerbaijan and Armenia as witness testimony and demand to reproduce publicly what it wrote.”

The expert believes that Azerbaijan and Armenia do not want this, preferring the mediation of the United States, which takes a more moderate and neutral position: “This is the position of both sides in relation to Russia. Russia is trying to restore order here. But the situation has changed: Armenia has lost what it has lost, Azerbaijan has gained what it has gained. Therefore, we are already seriously moving towards some kind of general agreement, and the United States is helping us in this direction. At least it supports our determination to use its authority in the world and make this independent decision.”

He emphasized that Azerbaijan sends its proposals on the peace agreement to Armenia, and Armenia to Azerbaijan: “There is some kind of project between them. This project can be in two versions. One of the versions says that the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan solemnly declare that they recognize each other's territory, that neither of them has territorial claims.”

According to the political scientist, “in a more reasonable version” it should be written that the Republic of Azerbaijan recognizes the Republic of Armenia: “It recognizes that Armenia consists of an area of 29,800 square kilometers, there are no territorial claims to it, Azerbaijan seeks to establish relations in the economic, political and social spheres, as with all normal states the relations develop in terms of mutual respect. Armenia also recognizes 86,600 square kilometers and declares that there are no territorial claims against it, and is ready to open all communications with Azerbaijan, establish economic, political and human relations. It's possible."

In recent years, Azerbaijan and Armenia have regularly held peace talks both with the mediation of both Russia and the European Union (EU). The US supports the EU format.-0-