Category: 2023

Bussels: On Saturday, the European Union urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to avoid "violence and harsh rhetoric" at the most recent round of negotiations in a protracted peace process in which Russia is also attempting to maintain a dominant position.

Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia met with EU Council President Charles Michel in Brussels for talks aimed at ending more than three decades of hostilities.

The two nations have engaged in two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a small mountainous region that is a part of Azerbaijan but is home to about 120,000 ethnic Armenians, since the fall of the Soviet Union.

According to Armenia, the proposed peace treaty should grant them special rights and ensure their security. In a June interview with Reuters, Azerbaijan's foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov rejected that demand, calling it unnecessary and an attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of the country.

The following actions that must be taken soon will determine whether or not there is real progress. In order to create the ideal atmosphere for peace and normalization talks, violence and abrasive rhetoric must end immediately, Michel said.

"The population on the ground needs reassurances, most importantly regarding their rights and security," he told reporters.

Michel claimed that in order to foster trust between Azerbaijan and the Armenians of Karabakh, the EU encouraged Azerbaijan to speak with them directly.

Aliyev and Pashinyan left without giving reporters a press briefing, so it was unclear how he responded. No nation recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto government, despite its claims to independence.

Along with the EU, the United States has been pressuring the parties to come to a peace agreement. The conflict in Ukraine has diverted Russia, the traditional power broker in the region, and it now runs the risk of having less influence.

On Saturday, Russia declared that it was prepared to arrange a trilateral meeting between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia at the level of foreign ministers. The Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that a summit in Moscow to sign a peace treaty could take place after this..

It stated that "reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh" and implementation of prior agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia should be an essential component of this agreement.

https://english.newstracklive.com/news/eus-peaceful-push-empowering-azerbaijanarmenia-talks-amidst-russias-offer-sc57-nu355-ta355-1285111-1.html

Baku: On Sunday, Azerbaijan accused Russia of failing to uphold its end of a 2020 cease-fire deal that Moscow mediated to put an end to hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Russian government "did nothing to prevent" Armenian military supplies from reaching separatist forces in the troubled enclave, according to the foreign ministry of Baku. "The Russian side did not ensure full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations," the ministry added.

A cease-fire sponsored by Russia in the autumn of 2020 put an end to six weeks of fighting over the mountainous breakaway region.

As part of the agreement, large areas of Armenian territory were ceded, and Russia sent peacekeepers to the five-kilometer-wide Lachin Corridor, the only land route connecting the enclave to Armenia.

The corridor was recently closed by Baku, setting off protests and fears of a humanitarian crisis.
Russia's foreign ministry pleaded with Azerbaijan to reopen the tunnel on Saturday.

The declaration added that Armenia's recent recognition of Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan "has radically changed the standing of the Russian peacekeeping contingent."

"Under such conditions, the responsibility for the destiny of Karabakh's Armenian population should not be shifted onto third countries," it stated, possibly alluding to the Armenian separatists' demands that Moscow ensure the reopening of the land link.

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, and Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, met on Saturday in Brussels for negotiations to end their long-running conflict over control of Karabakh. The negotiations were facilitated by the EU.

With the assistance of the European Union and the United States, whose escalating diplomatic activity in the Caucasus has irked Russia, Baku and Yerevan have been attempting to negotiate a peace agreement.

Moscow on Saturday offered to host the foreign ministers of the two nations and suggested that their future peace treaty could be signed there in an effort to reassert its power-broking position.

On June 27-29, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held bilateral negotiations in the United States. They also met with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in Washington. After the meeting, both sides issued a statement of consensus on including some additional articles to the draft bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also confirmed that progress has been made as a result of 3-day negotiation. It should be noted that after the talks in early May, the US Secretary of State affirmed in the same way that Armenia and Azerbaijan had made significant progress towards signing a peace treaty. The talks in the US, as reflected in the statements, succeeded overall in taking another step towards peace.

The ongoing negotiations between Baku and Yerevan have accordingly increased confidence that a peace deal will be concluded soon and a period of peace and stability will begin in the South Caucasus. At such a moment, when optimism in peace is growing, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are sadly on the rise once more.

These tensions should be viewed in a broader context of foreign policy, taking into account the current regional geopolitical situation. In this sense, it is interesting that the military provocations are happening in parallel with the intensification of peace talks in particular through the mediation of the West. To put it differently, we can say that it is already not considered unusual to observe such provocations immediately before or after the negotiations mediated by the EU and the US. As we have witnessed many times, such tensions occur specifically when the negotiations are developing on a positive track. Based on the past experience, that is not a secret to anyone this time too that in recent days the armed provocations committed by Armenians at interstate border and in Karabakh, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed, are exactly directed against the peace process mediated by the West.

It is an undeniable fact that if a peace agreement is signed, there will be no need for peacekeepers from any country in Karabakh. In other words, a possible peace deal between Yerevan and Baku will increase the possibility of early withdrawing Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh, which actually might be in the interests of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Therefore, instigating such provocations potentially lead Armenia, a close ally of Russia to drift away from peace negotiations spearheaded by the West.

Most likely, sooner or later, the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh, which are the main source of insecurity in the region, will be completely withdrawn. This will happen either when they lay down their weapons and surrender, or otherwise they will be destroyed by the Azerbaijani army as a legitimate target. This is an inevitable process, and neither the hiding of these armed terrorists under the umbrella of Russian peacekeepers, nor the political and moral support of France will save them.

Meanwhile, the EU continues to maintain the role of a negotiating platform. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet in Brussels on July 15. The expectation from the upcoming meeting is pitifully not too much optimistic. Despite that it is expected that if the agreement is signed it will be mainly based on the terms of Azerbaijan taking into account the new status quo in the region.

Frankly, it is a dramatic moment for diplomacy. Neither side trusts each other, even distrust between the warring parties runs deeper with accelerating danger and despair. This dangerous situation can head off even worse trouble ahead. And this is why, the parties must show political courage and take steps to overcome differences through dialogue.

Nevertheless, the Armenian political establishment is deeply divided and is not capable, as things stand, of holding substantive peace talks on ending the century-long conflict. Taking into consideration the fact that Armenia is a member of the CSTO and hosts a Russian military base in its territory, hence it is futile to expect from Yerevan to change its traditional foreign policy course and sign a peace deal through the mediation of Washington or Brussels.

However, an uptick in the level of contact between the warring parties is a positive signal. The continuation of talks is a sign of success in itself. In addition, an increase in the level of engagements from various international actors, including the EU and the US is the most promising thing in the peace building process. The West’s willing to play an active role in the peace talks will definitely help to facilitate signing final deal. However, Washington should obviously increase pressure on Yerevan in order not to manipulate in signing at least a framework peace agreement.

In a nutshell, with hopes of peace as close as ever, intensifying tensions between two sides casts doubt on reaching final deal in spite of persistent and enormous efforts by the EU and the US. It seems unlikely that Armenia will move against the political will of its major ally and sign any document in Brussels or Washington in the near future.

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/07/16/azerbaijan-and-armenia-between-hope-and-reality-of-peace/

Azerbaijan said that Russia and Armenia do not abide by the ceasefire agreement in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, hours after the European Union called on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from “violence and sharp statements.”

Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This region is a small mountainous enclave that forms part of Azerbaijan, but is inhabited by about 120,000 Armenians.

After fierce fighting and a ceasefire brokered by Russia, in 2020 Azerbaijan took control of the Armenian-held areas in and around the region.

“Armenia does not abide by many of the terms of the agreement, and Russia does not guarantee its full implementation within the framework of its obligations,” the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website on Saturday.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding discussions since then in order to reach a peace agreement, through which Russia also seeks to maintain a leadership role and in which the two countries focus on borders, settling disputes over the region and restoring relations.

European Council President Charles Michel hosted President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan for talks in Brussels with the aim of ending hostilities that have been going on between the two sides for more than three decades.

“Real progress depends on the next steps that will need to be taken in the near future,” Michel said. And as a matter of priority, violence and harsh rhetoric must stop in order to provide the right environment for peace talks and normalization.”

“The people on the ground need first and foremost reassurances regarding their rights and security,” he told reporters.

Michel said that he also expressed the EU’s encouragement to Azerbaijan to talk directly with the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in order to increase trust between the two parties.

Russia also said on Saturday that it was ready to organize a tripartite meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan at the level of foreign ministers. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that this could be followed by a summit in Moscow to sign a peace treaty.

https://www.breakinglatest.news/news/azerbaijan-russia-and-armenia-do-not-abide-by-the-ceasefire-agreement-in-nagorno-karabakh/

Russia and Armenia have failed to fulfill their obligations under the trilateral deal signed after 44 days of heavy fighting between Baku and Yerevan in the Karabakh region in 2020, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"Since the first day of the signing of the aforementioned trilateral statement, Armenia has not fulfilled many provisions of the statement, and Russia has not ensured the full implementation of the statement within its obligations," the ministry said in a statement.

Noting that Azerbaijan always "stayed true" to the trilateral deal, the statement said no measures were taken despite "repeated warnings by Baku on the use of the Lachin road for illegal activities."

"Over the past few months, hundreds of Armenian residents have been allowed to pass through this checkpoint in a well-regulated and transparent manner. Despite this, Armenia has not ceased its provocations against Azerbaijan and opened fire on the checkpoint on June 15, as well as attempted smuggling using vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in July," the statement added.

It added that attempts to politicize the establishment of the border checkpoint and statements made on the alleged humanitarian crisis in the region are "baseless."

"Notwithstanding the above-mentioned facts, the complete withdrawal of the remnants of the Armenian armed forces existing in the territory of Azerbaijan has not yet been ensured contrary to the 2020 Trilateral Statement, to which the Russian Federation is a party. On the contrary, Armenian armed forces are supported under the supervision of the Russian peacekeeping contingent," it further said.

It also said that an earlier Russian Foreign Ministry statement on the trilateral deal and the peace process between Baku and Yerevan caused "disappointment and misunderstanding," as well as contradicts Moscow's previous statements supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry earlier on Saturday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately draft a peace treaty "based on the previously reached agreements," expressing Moscow's belief that "reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh should become an integral part of this agreement."

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

Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian ceasefire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.

However, the ceasefire has been broken several times since then.

https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/moscow-yerevan-fail-to-fulfill-obligations-under-karabakh-deal-baku/news

Azerbaijan accused Russia on Sunday of failing to fulfil its obligations under a 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement to end fighting with Armenia for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"The Russian side did not ensure full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations," Baku's foreign ministry said, adding that Moscow "did nothing to prevent" Armenia's military supplies from reaching separatist forces in the restive enclave.

In autumn 2020, Russia sponsored a ceasefire agreement that ended six weeks of fighting over the mountainous breakaway region.

The deal saw Armenia cede swathes of territory, while Russia deployed peacekeepers to the five-kilometre-wide Lachin Corridor, the sole land link between the enclave and Armenia.

Baku recently closed the corridor, sparking protests and fears of a humanitarian crisis.

On Saturday, Russia's foreign ministry urged Azerbaijan to reopen the passageway.

It also said Armenia's recent recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan "has radically changed the standing of the Russian peacekeeping contingent".

"Under such conditions, the responsibility for the destiny of Karabakh's Armenian population should not be shifted onto third countries," it said, a possible reference to the Armenian separatists' calls for Moscow to ensure the reopening of the land link.

(AFP)

 Umer Jamshaid  Published | 11:42 PM