One main message can be extracted from the speech of the leader of Azerbaijan on March 18: he openly and literally said that Armenia must accept Azerbaijan's conditions and agree to carry out border delimitation under those conditions. Otherwise, there will be no peace treaty. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government.
"This is difficult to describe other than as an act of aggression against Armenia and a gross violation of agreements reached at the highest level because the statement adopted as a result of the quadrilateral meeting in Prague on October 6, 2022 states that Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991, by which both sides recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. They confirmed that it will serve as a basis for the work of commissions on [border] delimitation issues," he said.
The Armenian PM noted that a similar statement was adopted by the President of Russia, the Prime Minister of Armenia, and the President of Azerbaijan on October 31 of the same year in Sochi, and it states that they agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat thereof, to discuss and resolve all problematic issues exclusively on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration.
"After these statements, which directly state that [the former] Soviet borders have become national borders, Azerbaijan continues to talk about [conducting border] delimitation on the basis of some historical maps, which is absolutely unacceptable for the simple reason that it contradicts the written arrangements reached at the highest level..
“This practice of Azerbaijan to violate agreements is the reason why we continue to insist that reliable international mechanisms are needed for the implementation of both the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty and the agreements reached in the Stepanakert-Baku format regarding the security and rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh," said the Armenian premier.
