The interview of Ararat Mirzoyan with #CorreioBraziliense

The interview of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan with Correio Braziliense, one of the major daily newspapers published in the capital, Brasília, has been published. The interview was given during Minister Mirzoyan’s official visit to Brazil.

Question: What are the terms of the peace agreement with Azerbaijan? When will it be implemented?

Ararat Mirzoyan: A peace agreement sounds very good, but in reality, so far, we have managed to complete the draft of the agreement. It contains a preamble and 17 articles, and after long negotiations, we managed to reach an agreement on the text. We immediately expressed, publicly, our readiness to begin consultations with our Azeri counterparts to find a location and date to sign the peace treaty. Unfortunately, what we hear from the Azerbaijani side sounds like this: "We agree with the text, but it’s not enough for a peace agreement. We also need to list a series of preconditions to be brought to the negotiating table to enable the signing of the peace agreement.” These preconditions include, for example, amendments to Armenia’s Constitution.

Interestingly, alongside the negotiations surrounding the peace agreement, we presented other proposals to Azerbaijan – proposals we believe would be mutually beneficial.

Question: What kind of proposals?

Ararat Mirzoyan: For example, regarding the acquisition of armaments, we proposed creating bilateral mechanisms for arms control and verification. There was no positive response from Azerbaijan.

Last week, they came forward with false accusations of violations along the border by Armenia’s forces. We have, for instance, the European monitoring mission observing the situation along the border. These observers have not identified or found any violations committed by Armenia. We asked Azerbaijan for some proof or data – if they had any evidence of violations by our soldiers – so we could investigate. Another proposal of ours was the creation of this bilateral verification mechanism for border incidents.

Furthermore, if a peace agreement is concluded and we establish relations with Azerbaijan, that alone will not be enough. There could be more projects beneficial to both countries. We also proposed opening up communications, transportation, and infrastructure. They need to use our railways to connect two parts of their country. But they could also use the railway infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia to connect to Türkiye, the Mediterranean, etc. Based on a preliminary exchange of ideas and our proposals, we could gain reciprocal access to Azerbaijan’s railway infrastructure.

No positive response. Yes, we agreed on the draft of the agreement, but they came with preconditions and did not respond to the other proposals we made, which could bring true and lasting peace to the South Caucasus.

Question: So, is the peace agreement at risk?

Ararat Mirzoyan: I can assure you, the entire world, and Azerbaijan that Armenia is fully committed to the peace agenda. We have no intention, no reason, or motivation to start another war and escalate the situation. There is positive news: the completion of negotiations and the draft peace treaty. But there is also worrying news. Yes, peace, based on what we are hearing from the Azeri side, may be at risk because of Azerbaijan.