Baku and Yerevan agree: Peace treaty breakthrough reached
Baku and Yerevan have reached an agreement on the content of a peace treaty. The document comprises 17 points and aims to serve as a basis for the lasting resolution of mutual claims and for settling the situation between the countries.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, announced that Baku and Yerevan have agreed on the content of the peace agreement. This development was reported by the AP agency, although the Armenian side has not yet commented on these reports.
Minister Bayramov emphasized that Armenia accepted Azerbaijan's proposals regarding the last two points of the agreement. The draft consists of 17 points in total.
Key points of the agreement: No territorial claims
The last two points involve the renunciation of mutual claims and the non-deployment of third-party forces on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Minister Bayramov noted that Armenia should amend its constitution, where territorial claims against Azerbaijan are still recorded.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has been ongoing since the early 1990s, following the collapse of the USSR. The dispute primarily concerns Nagorno-Karabakh, a region recently populated mainly by Armenians, but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. After an offensive in 2023, Azerbaijan regained control over this area.
Negotiations on a ceasefire and peace agreement had been ongoing for many months. These talks were bilateral because Azerbaijan did not agree to the mediation of previous mediators – Russia, the EU, and the USA.
A potential agreement calls for mutual recognition of territorial integrity, border demarcation, and delimitation. It also involves unblocking communication routes, including the so-called Zangezur transport corridor that connects mainland Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, extending further to Turkey and Europe.
For a lengthy period, there was no progress in the negotiations that would result in a treaty partially regulating relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The agreement on these two points marks a significant achievement for both parties.
