Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Armenia and Azerbaijan’s recognition of each other’s territorial integrity is an important step for the establishment of stability and peace in the region

Pashinyan made the remarks at a Cebinet meeting on Thursday, May 18 when presenting the results of his meeting with the president of Azerbaijan held in Brussels on May 14 at the mediation of the President of the European Council.

“On May 14, my meeting with the leader of Azerbaijan took place in Brussels through the mediation of Charles Michel, the President of the European Council. As you remember, during the meeting held in Prague on October 6, 2022 at the mediation of the President of France and the President of the European Council, the president of Azerbaijan and I reaffirmed our countries' commitment to the UN Charter and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991, stressing that we recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of each other based on those documents, we also confirmed that this will be the basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions,” Pashinyan said.

“On May 14, we actually took another step and, as indicated in the statement of the President of the European Council following the May 14 meeting, we noted that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity in 29,800 square kilometers, and Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in 86,600 square kilometers.

“I have to record that I consider this an important step for the establishment of stability and peace in the region, in terms of the finalization of the text of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the delimitation of the borders as well. But, of course, the next step must be identifying and consenting on concrete grounds for delimitation that have legal force and significance.”

Pashinyan drew special attention to the fact that in the statement of the President of the European Council following the tripartite meeting on May 14, the importance of the dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert on the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in cooperation with the international community was emphasized.

“This is a process that is essential for a real and comprehensive settlement of relations with Azerbaijan and the establishment of lasting peace in the region. Therefore, it will greatly accelerate the signing of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Prime Minister said.

“I should emphasize that a certain positive understanding was formed in Brussels regarding the restoration of the Armenia-Azerbaijan railway, but taking into account the previous experience, I will refrain from any specification in this regard. I would like to emphasize once again that the Republic of Armenia is ready to implement the opening of the communications provided for in paragraph 9 of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 and again in the trilateral statement of January 11, as soon as possible, based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity of the parties.

“You have learned from the statement of the President of the European Council that there was also a certain understanding regarding the further release of prisoners and other detained persons, clarification of the fates of the missing, but considering the extremely sensitive nature of the issue, I will only say that the discussions on this topic will continue during the upcoming meetings.”