Mirzoyan: It's time to sign agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and move towards peace
YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. After lengthy negotiations, the time has come to sign an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and move forward toward achieving peace and opening economic opportunities in the South Caucasus, according to a statement by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan following a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart, Murat Nurtleu.
"Armenia's position is clear: recognition of the territorial integrity of both states and the implementation of the delimitation process based on the provisions of the Alma-Ata Declaration, as well as the opening of regional communications based on unconditional respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of each state, as well as the principles of equality and reciprocity," he said.
Mirzoyan also stated that a comprehensive settlement requires resolving humanitarian issues, including clarifying the fate of missing persons and the release of prisoners of war and detained civilians.
On March 13, the Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed the agreement on the draft Treaty "On the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan" and the completion of negotiations on its approval. The Armenian side stated that the document is ready for signing and that Yerevan is ready to begin consultations with Baku on the timing and location of the signing.
According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the current content of the draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan represents a version of mutual concessions that is acceptable to Armenia. He noted that two points of the draft treaty, on which the parties had not reached an agreement for some time but eventually found a compromise, concern the non-deployment of third-country forces along the entire length of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and the mutual withdrawal of claims filed against each other in international courts, as well as the non-implementation of actions against each other. The President of Azerbaijan had also previously pointed out these two disagreements.
As a precondition for signing the peace treaty, Baku presented a number of new demands to Yerevan, including reforming the Armenian Constitution and dissolving the OSCE Minsk Group.
