STRASBOURG, October 17. /TASS/. The signing of a treaty of peace and normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan could happen by the end of this year, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the European Parliament.
"If the principles I listed are officially supported, then the signing of an agreement on peace and the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be a real possibility by the end of this year," he said.
During his address, Pashinyan said confirming Armenia’s territorial integrity was the core principle of any settlement. The prime minister noted that he is awaiting the confirmation of these principles at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev which is slated to take place in Brussels in October with the participation of EU representatives.
"We should resolutely move toward peace. Political will is necessary for this. Myself, the Armenian government and the parliament majority have this will. At the same time, the international community, the European Union and countries in the region should support us in seizing this opportunity," he added.
On October 5, a meeting was held on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada, Spain. In attendance were European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Pashinyan. According to the APA news agency, the Azerbaijani president refused to take part in the meeting due to "Paris’ unacceptable stance." Following the meeting, its participants approved a joint statement where Pashinyan again recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, an area encompassing 86,600 square kilometers. Azerbaijan thinks that this includes eight enclave villages located on Armenian territory that used to be part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been conducting talks on demarcating a section of the shared border and concluding a peace treaty. Several top-level talks have already been held as well as consultations at the level of foreign ministers mediated both by Russia and Western countries. Even though Baku and Yerevan note progress during the negotiations, the sides recognize that agreements on a number of key issues have not yet been reached, including as to which maps should be used when delimiting the border.