Armenia Deputy FM reiterates Yerevan`s readiness to sign  peace  treaty with Baku as soon as possible

ArmInfo.  The signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan will allow us to focus on addressing  regional cooperation and the well-being of all countries, peoples of the South  Caucasus region. Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan stated this  during a briefing with journalists on May 26, referring to the fact  that Azerbaijan has put forward two preconditions, and noted that the  peace treaty will not be signed until the Armenian side agrees to  these preconditions.

The diplomat reiterated the Armenian side's readiness to sign a peace  treaty, which has already been fully agreed upon.  "A short while  ago, Prime Minister Pashinyan reiterated that Armenia is ready to  send a corresponding letter to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in  parallel with the signing of the peace agreement, with a proposal to  dissolve the Minsk Group mechanisms. As for the issue of the  Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, Armenia's position on this  issue has also been presented: namely, the Constitutional Court of  Armenia, in its relevant ruling last year on the working procedure of  the delimitation commissions has already given its assessment that  there are no legal-constitutional obstacles and contradictions  between our Constitution and the Alma-Ata Declaration. Moreover, the  peace treaty has clear guarantees and, in essence addresses both the  concerns of the Armenian side regarding the Constitution of  Azerbaijan, and the statements of Azerbaijan that they also have  concerns," Kostanyan said.

Touching upon the negotiations between the leaders of Armenia and  Azerbaijan in the capital of Albania, Kostanyan noted that official  Yerevan considers them constructive. The diplomat added that the  leaders of the two countries agreed to continue discussions on the  signing of a peace treaty and expressed hope that the parties would  meet in the foreseeable future to continue the dialogue. The Deputy  Foreign Minister of Armenia added that there is no specific date for  the next meeting yet.

When asked if there was any response to Armenia's proposal to unblock  regional communications, Kostanyan noted that there was no final  response.  "But today you also saw that the Prime Minister further  opened up and presented certain new details regarding the proposals  of the Armenian side, I believe that in the context of the  discussions on the general peace process, this topic should also be  on the agenda of the upcoming discussions between Armenia and  Azerbaijan," the diplomat said.

Speaking about the Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku, the Deputy  Foreign Minister reiterated that this issue is in the center of  attention of the Armenian authorities.  "We have repeatedly noted  that the matter of the release of prisoners of war and civilian  detainees of our Armenian nation is always on our agenda, and this  issue always finds a place in all our meetings. Naturally, there are  also quite a few well-known partners in the field of human rights at  our event who have arrived in Yerevan,, and, of course, speaking  about the sphere of human rights, we cannot and do not want to not  touch on this topic. On the contrary, it is among our priorities.  Naturally, we cannot be satisfied with the results until all our  compatriots have returned to Armenia," Kostanyan concluded.