Newspaper "Caspiy": Azerbaijan and Armenia on the threshold of a historic peace agreement

The level of trust in Armenia is approaching zero. Therefore, we do not believe a single word they say. These are not people we can trust, including the current government. Everything they say has no meaning for us. We need documents, written evidence.

This was stated by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the opening ceremony of the XII Global Baku Forum on March 13, addressing the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia on agreeing on the text of a peace agreement.

Azerbaijan's Expectations

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan and Armenia have completed negotiations. As the head of our country's foreign ministry, Jeyhun Bayramov, told journalists, Armenia has accepted the Azerbaijani side's proposals regarding the last two uncoordinated points of the agreement.

"At the next stage, Baku's expectations are as follows: Armenia must amend its constitution, which still contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan," the minister said on the sidelines of the XII Global Baku Forum, according to the newspaper "Caspian".

Recall that the author of the text and the initiator of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is precisely the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry, in turn, confirmed the coordination of all points of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan and through diplomatic channels informed Baku that it accepts the proposals regarding the two uncoordinated points of the peace treaty.

"The peace treaty is ready for signing. Armenia is ready to start consultations with Azerbaijan on the timing and location of the agreement signing," the statement says.

At the same time, the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, stated that better conditions for a peace agenda can be formed after resolving issues related to the Armenian constitution, which still maintains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan even stated in the National Assembly that Armenia does not consider it expedient to continue the activities of the international negotiation format - the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the USA, and France - after signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

Yet, until quite recently, Armenia, with the support of some of its patrons, made claims against Azerbaijan and tried to preserve the Minsk Group - an instrument of the past that does not perform any function. Today, there is no and cannot be any need for the Minsk Group.

The World Welcomes

The international community has already reacted to the completion of negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

For example, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on social network X that Germany welcomes the completion of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the text of a peace treaty. Supposedly, the progress achieved gives hope for a long-term settlement of the conflict.

The European Union also made a statement welcoming the respective statements made by Armenia and Azerbaijan on the completion of negotiations on the draft Agreement on Peace and Establishment of Interstate Relations. The EU fully supports the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and is ready to provide additional support. The United States, Iran, China, and other countries have expressed their support.

And Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in a conversation with journalists, stated that Yerevan and Baku, after signing the peace agreement, will not deploy third-party forces on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. However, this point concerns only the Armenian side, since there are no and never have been third-party forces on the Azerbaijani side.

Mutual Claims Will Be Withdrawn

After the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020, Azerbaijan filed interstate claims against Armenia in international courts in connection with the 30-year occupation, ethnic cleansing, and other international crimes. Currently, processes are ongoing in both the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice, as well as in the International Arbitration Court.

So, after the signing of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, mutual claims filed in international courts will be withdrawn. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elnur Mammadov, adding that Azerbaijan's expectations are that at the next stage, Armenia will amend its constitution, eliminating territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

During this period, Armenia, together with Azerbaijan, will