Peace talks

Armenia: Non-aggression pact with Azerbaijan

The Armenian head of government Nikol Pashinyan has offered to sign a non-aggression pact with neighboring Azerbaijan. "We have presented Azerbaijan with a proposal for a mechanism for mutual arms control and the signing of a non-aggression pact if the signing of a peace treaty is delayed," said Pashinyan in a speech on Sunday on the occasion of Armenian Armed Forces Day.

Pashinyan and Azerbaijani head of state Ilham Aliyev had originally held out the prospect of signing a peace treaty by the end of 2023. However, there has so far been no breakthrough in the peace talks under international mediation.

Enemies for decades
The neighboring Caucasus republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been enemies for decades, particularly over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which belongs to Azerbaijan under international law. In September, Azerbaijan took complete control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a large-scale military offensive. As a result, almost all ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia, bringing with them more than 100,000 people.

Last month, Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged prisoners of war. The EU, the USA and the regional powers Turkey and Russia praised this step as a "breakthrough". The prisoner exchange raised hopes that direct talks between Pashinyan and Aliyev on normalizing bilateral relations would be resumed. The two had met several times, mediated by EU Council President Charles Michel, but their dialog has been on hold since October.