In case of signing peace treaty with Azerbaijan, the idea of withdrawal of mutual lawsuits is acceptable to Armenia - Pashinyan

YEREVAN, December 20. /ARKA/. “We continue to be constructively engaged in the discussions around the peace treaty with Azerbaijan, and we have conveyed proposals on the two outstanding articles of the peace treaty to Azerbaijan for more than a month now, and we haven’t yet had a response,” Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday in an interview with Armenpress news agency.
“We propose the article about the non-deployment of the forces of third countries to cover the delimitated parts of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and this is logical, because in those parts the risk of escalation is significantly decreasing if not minimizing,” he said.
Therefore, he added, after the complete delimitation, there won’t be the need for the presence of a third force in any part of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and the Republic of Armenia is proposing this logic.
Regarding the withdrawal of lawsuits filed against each other, Pashinyan said when a peace treaty is signed this is logical, thus, the idea is acceptable for Armenia.
“There are two nuances here: one of them is that there must be an understandable prospect for bilaterally resolving the individual humanitarian issues currently under discussion in international courts, and secondly, it must be clear that after withdrawing the disputes in international platforms regarding other issues the sides shall not put forward the same issues in the bilateral relations agenda and make them a source of lasting escalations,” Pashinyan said.
The UN International Criminal Court (ICC) is considering Armenia's lawsuit against Azerbaijan, filed on 28 September 2023, demanding that the country eliminate all forms of racial discrimination due to years of state-level propaganda of hatred and Armenophobia.
Yerevan also expects Baku to refrain from taking punitive measures against former Artsakh leaders currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. In addition, Armenia insists on a ban on the demolition and alteration of monuments of Armenian cultural heritage in the region, including memorials commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Four inter-state complaints against Azerbaijan are pending before the ECtHR on behalf of Armenia - in relation to crimes in the 44-day war in Artsakh (September-November 2020); illegal trials in Azerbaijan of captured Armenians; armed attacks and occupation by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces of sovereign RA territory (May 2021-November 2022); blockade of the Lachin corridor (December 2022-September 2023) and violation of the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.