Tuesday, March 15 2022 11:39

ArmInfo. Negotiations for a peace agreement with Azerbaijan must be held without any  preconditions, Armenia's FM Ararat Mirzoyan said in an interview with  Armenpress. 

Below is the interview: 

Question. Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan  publicised 5 principles of peace treaty, as they claim, which were  handed over to Armenia. Was that the document passed to Armenia?

Answer. Yes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan publicly  announced the proposals handed over to Armenia.  By the way, it is  noteworthy that the letter dated February 21 was passed to the  Armenian side only on March 10.

Question. What is the position of the Armenian side on the mentioned  proposals?

Answer. First of all, it should be emphasised that every negotiation  on a peace treaty must be held without preconditions.

As for the main proposals, the two countries, having signed the  "Agreement on the Establishment of Cooperation of Independent States"  on December 8, 1991, in fact have already recognized each other's  territorial integrity and accepted that they have no territorial  claims towards each other.

It should be noted that the provisions mentioned in the proposal do  not fully reflect the whole agenda of the existing problems. It is  vital for the Armenian side that the rights and freedoms of the  Armenians of Artsakh are clearly guaranteed, and the status of  Nagorno-Karabakh is finally clarified. For us, the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights.

As we have already informed, the Armenian side responded to the  proposal of Azerbaijan in line with the already mentioned position.

Question. The proposals of Azerbaijan refer to the process of  delimitation and demarcation between the two countries, as well as  the unblocking of transport infrastructure in the region.  How are  these processes going?

Answer. We believe that the agreements reached within the Trilateral  Statements of November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021, and November 26,  2021, should be fully implemented, and we are consistent in this  regard. As you know, we have even made comprehensive  proposals for  the implementation of these agreements, such as the proposal to  launch a delimitation process through the mirrored withdrawal of  troops and the introduction of an international monitoring mechanism,  which, however, was rejected by the Azerbaijani side.

Question. What format do you see the possible negotiations on a peace  treaty within?

Answer. Earlier, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia stated that it had  applied to the OSCE Minsk Group Co- Chairmanship to organise  negotiations on a peace treaty on the basis of the UN Charter, the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the  Helsinki Final Act.

Azerbaijan has released the five points of a peace treaty proposal it  has offered Armenia.

Leyla Abdullayeva, Head of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs  Press Service, in a press interview today, said the five points are:

- Mutual recognition of respect for the sovereignty, territorial  integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders and  political independence of each other.

- Mutual confirmation of the absence of territorial claims against  each other and acceptance of legally binding obligations not to raise  such a claim in future.

- Obligation to refrain in their inter-State relations from  undermining the security of each other, from threat or use of force  both against political independence and territorial integrity, and in  any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the UN Charter.

- Delimitation and demarcation of the state border, and establishment  of the diplomatic relations.

- Unblocking of the transportation and other communications, building  other communications as appropriate, and establishment of cooperation  in other fields of mutual interest.