“The 86,600 km2 includes Nagrono Karabakh. But we must note that we are saying that the issue of the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh must be discussed in the Baku-Stepanakert format,” the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, according to Armen Press.
Pashinyan noted that all administrations before him have recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
“Armenia is ready to recognize the 86,600 km2 territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And it is our understanding that Azerbaijan is ready to recognize the 29,800 km2 territorial integrity of Armenia. If we understand each other correctly with Azerbaijan in this matter, Armenia, indeed, recognizes Azerbaijan’s 86,600 km2 territorial integrity, with the understanding that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s 29,800 km2 territorial integrity,” Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan said it is highly important to create international guarantees for the direct talks between Stepanakert and Baku over the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh.
During Brussels-hosted talks earlier in May, Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86,600 km2).
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also said on Monday that the signing of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan is inevitable.
"We think that the signing of a peace treaty is inevitable and are trying to make constructive efforts to achieve this goal. Naturally, this peace treaty should embrace international norms and principles", he said after talks with his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.
Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Baku in the early 1990s and has since enjoyed support from Yerevan. In 2020, the two nations fought a 44-day war, which ended in a truce brokered and monitored by Russia. Moscow sent a peacekeeping force to the area as part of the deal.
The conflict has since seen sporadic flare-ups resulting in border clashes. A major outbreak occurred last September and claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers on both sides.
SKH/PR