The treaty is almost ready, but we disagree on two of the 17 clauses, but the most important thing is that the points aimed at establishing both peace and diplomatic relations have been agreed, Ovannisian told the Factor online news website on Saturday.
Concluding a peace treaty requires political will, Ovannisian said, and on the Armenian side this political will “has been clearly expressed”.
On October 23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian told a meeting of the Brics Plus format, held during the group’s 16th summit in the Russian city of Kazan, that the draft treaty on peace and relations between Yerevan and Baku was 90 per cent agreed.
The Prime Minister explained that the treaty includes clauses on mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries, the absence of mutual territorial claims and the obligation not to make such claims in the future.
It also commits both states to refrain from the use of force and interference in each other’s internal affairs, and seeks to establish diplomatic relations and bilateral mechanisms to fulfil the obligations of this document.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the predominantly Armenian-populated territory decided to secede from the then Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1988.
The first, in 1992-1994, ended in victory for the secessionists; the second, in 2020, saw Baku regain several districts and military control of the territory.
In 2022, with the mediation of Russia, the United States and the European Union, Baku and Yerevan began to discuss the signing of a future peace treaty.
At the end of May 2023, Pashinian declared that Armenia was ready to recognize Azerbaijan’s borders from the Soviet era, including Nagorni Karabakh.
Despite that recognition, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in September 2023 that ended up with the disarmament and self-dissolution of the Armenian militias in Nagorni Karabakh and, finally, the announcement that rebelled republic would cease to exist since January 1, 2024.
Last December 7, Baku and Yerevan signed a joint declaration underscoring that there was a historical opportunity to achieve the long-awaited peace in the region of the South Caucasus.
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