Author: Emil Lazarian

Azerbaijan on Thursday said a “de facto peace” exists with archrival Armenia but a formal treaty is needed to finalize the normalization of bilateral ties.

"In order to bring this process to a logical end, a peace treaty must be signed and Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan must end," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told those attending a meeting with Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary-General Martin Chungong in Baku.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.

Last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated a counterterrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Last month, the sides swapped prisoners of war, a first step toward normalizing relations.

The European Union, the United States and regional powers Türkiye and Russia praised the move as a "breakthrough." The pair also discussed the withdrawal of troops from their shared border, but no concrete decision followed.

The prisoner exchange raised hopes for reviving face-to-face talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Aliyev.

The pair have met several times for normalization talks mediated by EU chief Charles Michel. But the process has been on hold since October.

Traditional regional power broker Russia bogged down with its dragging Ukraine offensive, has seen its influence wane in the Caucasus.

Aliyev said Armenia still claims Azerbaijani territory in official documents such as its constitution, adding that peace could be achieved if Yerevan stops making the claims and makes changes to its legal documents.

"Stating the importance of this to be implemented in Armenia as soon as possible, the head of state emphasized that the initiation of internal discussions on this issue in Armenia is considered a positive step and it can create a good opportunity for the peace process to be concluded soon," the statement read.

Similarly, on Thursday, Pashinyan also argued his country’s decades-old claims on Karabakh hinder the establishment of peace in the Caucasus region.

"I wonder, does our state policy have to be based on the decision by the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh and the (Soviet era) Supreme Council of Armenia, according to which Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh should be united, as stipulated in the (1990 Armenian) Declaration of Independence? If so, it means that we are going to have a war now, we will not achieve peace," Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio in an interview.

At the same time, he said that Armenia must have a combat-ready army to defend its territory "within the borders of the former Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic."

Pashinyan also criticized the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russia-led military bloc, for not helping in the issue of Karabakh; however, he did not mention how the organization was established to defend its member countries in case of aggression and that Karabakh is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Armenia criticized Russia's refusal to fight for Armenia, and said that after the events in Karabakh "for a number of reasons, the Russian Federation cannot be Armenia's main partner in the defense and military-technical spheres."

Pashinyan has also angered the Kremlin by questioning the foundations of the alliance, saying “Because Moscow has repeatedly let Armenia down so, Yerevan must think about forging closer ties with the United States and France.”

On 1 February, Armenia officially became the 124th state that joined the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), granting it the authority to arrest Russian leader Vladimir Putin on its territory.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted at a diplomatic conference in Romis, is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. As of 2024, 124 states have ratified the Rome Statute, which empowers the ICC to exercise its functions and jurisdiction on the territory of any state party.

Under the jurisdiction of the ICC, its members investigate the most serious crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crimes of aggression.

Armenia’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute suggests a significant diplomatic shift as the country takes steps to distance itself from Russia.

Among other steps by Armenia, which indicate its plans to strengthen ties with the West, are conducting joint military exercises with the US and a visit of the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Kyiv with a humanitarian assistance mission. Pashinyan himself met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the third European Political Community Summit in Spain.

On 17 March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging they are guilty of the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

Despite the ratification of the Rome Statute, some of the deputies of the Armenian Parliament are opposed to the arrest of Putin.  In October 2023, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Hakob Arshakyan said that Armenia would not arrest the Russian leader even after the approval of the Rome Statute by the country’s parliament, as this would lead to a deterioration in relations between Armenia and Russia.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Armenia can no longer rely on Russia as its main defence and military partner because Moscow has repeatedly let it down so Yerevan must think about forging closer ties with the United States and France, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

Armenia, a tiny former Soviet republic bordered by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, has long relied on Russia as a big power ally, though Pashinyan has angered the Kremlin by questioning the foundations of the alliance.

"We need to understand who we can really maintain military-technical and defense relations with," Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio when asked about reform of Armenia's armed forces.

"Previously, this problem was simple because there was no such question and there was no difficulty in creating a concept. Previously, 95-97% of our defense relations were with the Russian Federation. Now this cannot be for both objective and subjective reasons," he said.

Pashinyan said Armenia should think about what security ties it should build with the United States, France, India and Georgia.

Since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has faced competition from the United States for dominance of what were once Soviet republics and before that parts of the Russian empire.

Pashinyan says Russia failed Armenia when Azerbaijan launched a lightning-fast military operation that took back control over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, triggering an outflow of ethnic Armenians living there.

Russia says that Pashinyan's own failure to navigate the complex rivalries of the South Caucasus was to blame for the 2023 defeat of ethnic Armenian fighters in Karabakh.

Azerbaijan has accused France of sowing the seeds of a new war by supplying arms to Armenia, which is also being courted by the United States.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

“Armenia’s claims against Azerbaijan in international courts are based on such issues as non-recognition of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, separation of Karabakh from Azerbaijan. If Armenia puts an end to territorial claims towards Azerbaijan and makes changes to the Constitution and other normative-legal documents, peace can be achieved,” Aliyev said, receiving Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Martin Chungong in Baku.

He also noted that de facto peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia has already been established, and a peaceful situation has been prevailing on the border of the two countries for several months.

“But in order to bring this process to its logical conclusion, it is necessary to sign a peace treaty and put an end to Armenia’s territorial claims towards Azerbaijan,” the Azerbaijani president said.

Aliyev noted that Armenia’s Declaration of Independence “contains direct calls for the unification of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region with Armenia and the violation of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The references to this document are also reflected in the Constitution of Armenia.”

“In addition, Armenia’s other normative legal documents also contain territorial claims towards Azerbaijan, many conventions and other documents Armenia has joined have numerous reservations that do not recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Karabakh,” Aliyev said.

https://mediamax.am/en/news/politics/53798/