The Prime Minister of Armenia proposed exchanging territories with Azerbaijan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed that Azerbaijan carry out an equal exchange of territories to resolve the issue of enclaves and remove one of the obstacles to peace between the countries. He said this in his address, UNN reports.

Details

Under Pashinyan’s proposal, the two states could exchange plots of land of equal size. This would eliminate enclaves—territories that belong to one country but are surrounded on all sides by another.

In addition, the Armenian prime minister called for transport routes and communications between the countries to be opened, as well as for a final renunciation of mutual territorial claims.

Why Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict for decades

The main cause of the confrontation was Nagorno-Karabakh—an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan that was predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians until the events of 2023. In the late 1980s, the dispute over the region escalated into an armed conflict and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, into a full-scale war.

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In the 1990s, Armenian forces established control over Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent Azerbaijani districts. During the 2020 war, Azerbaijan regained a significant portion of these territories, and in September 2023 it restored control over all of Karabakh. After that, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians left the region.

Despite the end of hostilities in Karabakh, disputes over borders, enclaves, and transport links remained between the states. Pashinyan proposes resolving these issues through a territorial exchange and mutual recognition of sovereignty.