Mirzoyan also said Yerevan hopes that Russia, the United States and France, which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, will mediate those talks despite their bitter standoff over the conflict in Ukraine.
“As you know, the Azerbaijani side presented some proposals [on the peace treaty] to the Armenian side and we found those proposals acceptable while saying that they do not fully address the whole scope of issues,” he told reporters. “So we complemented those proposals with our own proposals by adding that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s rights and status is key to us.”
“We hope that the co-presidency of the OSCE Minsk Group will manage after all to organize peace talks with this agenda and with the aim of signing a comprehensive peace treaty,” he added at a joint news conference with Poland’s visiting Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau.
The Azerbaijani proposals cited by Mirzoyan call for a peace accord based on five elements, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian publicly stated on Thursday that Yerevan is ready to negotiate a deal along these lines.
Pashinian did not explicitly mention the question of Karabakh’s status, speaking instead of the need to protect “the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians.”
His remarks were construed by Armenian opposition leaders and other critics as a further indication that Pashinian’s government is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armen Rustamian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, claimed on Friday that Pashinian has essentially met all Azerbaijani demands. He noted that the Armenian government is refusing to publicize its official response to Baku’s proposals on the peace treaty.
“We are still trying to get a copy of that text,” Rustamian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “I presume that if that text makes reference to Artsakh (Karabakh), it contains very vague wordings such as protection of ‘people’s rights.’”
“This means nothing unless we say that those rights cannot be protected if the right to self-determination is not upheld as well,” he said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Thursday that he is encouraged by Yerevan’s response to his proposals. Aliyev again claimed that Baku put an end to the Karabakh conflict with its victory in the 2020 war.
Aliyev and Pashinian are scheduled to meet in Brussels on April 6 for fresh talks that will be hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.
