Armenia is ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan by the end of this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today, speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
European Council President Charles Michel invited Pashinyan and the President of Azerbaijan to Brussels in late October after the latter skipped a five-sided meeting in Granada on October 5 that was to be attended also by the German Chancellor and the French President.
Nikol Pashinyan told European MPS that his main task is to help establish peace in the region. He noted that it would not be easy, given the protracted confrontation with Azerbaijan.
"Our region needs peace, i.e. a situation where all countries live with open borders, enjoying active economic, political and cultural relations, where issues are resolved through diplomacy and dialog. We do not oppose our vision of peace to the interests of our region, because our country can be peaceful if there is peace in the region," Pashinyan said.
He questioned whether peace is really possible and how to achieve it. "At the beginning of October in Granada, we had an opportunity to fix a historic turning point, but the Azerbaijani president refused to come and adopt a joint statement that would have established the principles of a peace treaty," the prime minister said.
He noted that these principles were formulated not in Granada, but in Prague, and were clarified during the meeting in Brussels.
Pashinyan reiterated that they are recognizing territorial integrity of each other within the borders specified in the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. He noted that he has several times publicly recognized Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within the noted borders, while the Azerbaijani president refuses to do so.
Pashinyan said also that Armenia is ready and interested in reopening transport links on the principle of mutual recognition of sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they run, ARKA reports.
