Pashinian said that Yerevan presented the Azerbaijani side on Wednesday with fresh proposals regarding the treaty. He did not disclose those proposals or give other details of the deal discussed by the two countries.
“Obviously, this document should be acceptable to Azerbaijan as well, and we hope that it will be possible to build on some progress observed as a result of three rounds of negotiations,” he said during a weekly session of his cabinet.
Azerbaijani leaders have said all along that the treaty must be based on key elements which it presented to Armenia in March 2022. Those include mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. This would presumably mean Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said earlier this week that the peace deal should make a reference to Karabakh. He said Yerevan is pressing for an “international mechanism” for direct negotiations between Baku and Stepanakert regarding the security and rights of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry deplored Grigorian’s comments on Wednesday, saying they show that Armenia has not abandoned territorial claims to Azerbaijan. A ministry spokesman ruled out any talks with the Karabakh Armenians whom he described as Azerbaijani citizens.
As well as reaffirming his declared commitment to the Armenian-Azerbaijani treaty, Pashinian condemned the continuing Azerbaijani blockade of the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. Baku has also been blocking Armenia’s supplies of electricity and natural gas to Karabakh, aggravating the humanitarian crisis there.
“Azerbaijan's actions have one goal: to complete the policy of ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” charged Pashinian.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov again defended Azerbaijani government-backed protesters blocking the road when he spoke with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried by phone on Wednesday for the second time in a week. Bayramov said that the protesters’ demands for an end to “illegal” mining in Karabakh have still not been met.
The United States as well as the European Union, Russia and international human rights organizations have repeatedly called for an immediate reopening of the Lachin corridor.
Later on Thursday, Pashinian flew to Munich to attend an annual international security conference that will open in the German city on Friday.
Pashinian’s press office said he will hold “a number of bilateral meetings” with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the forum. The office declined to say whether Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is also scheduled to participate in the Munich Security Conference, will be among them.