Azerbaijan criticizes Armenia for preventing the signing of the peace agreement

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister accused Armenia of obstructing the signing of the peace agreement, and said that Yerevan refuses to participate in the third round of negotiations.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister said, “We have now missed the active phase of signing this (peace) agreement. The Armenian side is currently preventing the signing of the peace agreement, and we also saw that they refused to participate in the third round of negotiations.” Jeyhun Bayramov said at a joint press conference in the capital Baku with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.

Bayramov said that senior diplomats discussed the current situation in the South Caucasus region during the meeting, which also emphasized the importance of the tripartite agreements.

He also said that they addressed issues related to the post-conflict period and efforts to sign a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan, adding that Azerbaijan is ready to participate in the trilateral talks but Yerevan did not give a final answer.

“The issue related to Armenia’s illegal activities in the Azerbaijani territories, which were previously occupied, should be discussed at the legal level. The peace agreement has no impact on the signing process, but it is negotiated separately,” Bayramov said. An arbitration case filed by Baku against Yerevan on Monday for the exploitation of energy resources in the Karabakh region, which was under 30 years of Armenian occupation.

For his part, Lavrov said that there was an agreement last December between all parties to hold the next tripartite talks in Moscow, but Armenia informed Russia that it would not be able to attend the meeting.

He added, “The Armenian side also stated that it does not object to this, but it did not give a final answer at the present time. I do not think we will insist on providing our services. However, these proposals are known to both sides.” He said.

Lavrov also noted that the function of the Lachin road, which connects Armenia with the Karabakh region, must comply with the Tripartite Declaration of November 2020, which emphasized the importance of “ensuring the passage of humanitarian aid and civilians through the Lachin road without exception.”

“We are trying to achieve this through our contacts and primarily through the peacekeeping forces. The establishment of any checkpoints there (in Karabakh) is not being discussed. However, it is possible to remove fears that the corridor will not be used to serve its purpose by technical means. We touched on that.” today “.

Lavrov also commented on the deployment of an EU civilian mission in Armenia, which was officially launched last Monday, saying that it raises “serious doubts regarding legality”.

“We cannot comment on the details of the declarations made by Brussels. We see how the European Union abused its relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the same time, the function, goals and mandate of the mission raise many questions about whether this mission will add additional value to the efforts to normalize Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.” .

Bayramov and Lavrov later attended the third meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani Council of Experts, where bilateral relations and further development of cooperation between Azerbaijani and Russian experts were discussed.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been strained since 1991, when the Armenian army occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, during 44 days of fierce fighting, Azerbaijan liberated a large part of Karabakh, after which a Russian-brokered peace agreement was signed.

But the peace agreement did not end the conflict along the border and other disputes between the two countries.