Armenia and Azerbaijan renounced their territorial claims

Armenia and Azerbaijan mutually recognized their state territories. This was stated by the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, at the meeting of the EEU Council in Moscow, which was also attended by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

“I want to confirm that Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement on mutual recognition of territorial integrity, and on this basis we can say that we are going quite well towards regularizing our relations,” said the head of the Armenian republic. (cited by TASS).

Aliyev, in turn, said that “there are serious prerequisites for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, based on the recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty.” “There is a possibility of reaching a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan, especially considering that Armenia has recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan” – said the head of Azerbaijan.

Despite the progress in relations, there was a public dispute between Pashinyan and Aliyev at a meeting of the EEU Council.

In his speech, the Azerbaijani president said that the republic initiated the creation of the Zangezur corridor – a road project that would connect the main territory of Azerbaijan with the exclave of Nakhichevan, separated from the country by the territory of Armenia.

After Aliyev’s speech, when Vladimir Putin planned to end the part with speeches, Pashinyan interrupted the Russian president, deciding to respond to the words of the head of Azerbaijan.

The Prime Minister of Armenia noted that the Zangezur corridor is “an expression that Azerbaijan has been using in recent years as an attempt to make territorial claims against Armenia.” “I want to emphasize that the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 refers to only one corridor, and that is the Lachin Corridor,” said the Prime Minister of Armenia. Despite this, Armenia is ready to open regional connections with Azerbaijan, as well as unblock all transport and economic corridors, Pashinyan added.

Aliyev said he had no territorial claims against Armenia, adding that “you have to try hard or have a vivid imaginationto “see territorial claims” in his words. “The name of the corridor is in no way an encroachment on someone’s territory,” he said. “People who know international terminology would not attach as much importance to it as the Prime Minister of Armenia.” Aliyev also added that the Russian president supports the uprising Zangezur Corridor.

“Very interesting, thank you. It’s very interesting to know that Russia supports the project you mentioned. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard of it,” Pashinyan said.

The skirmish between the leaders of the two countries dragged on for 20 minutes. Vladimir Putin had to intervene in the dispute: the Russian president proposed to continue the discussion in trilateral negotiations. They are also scheduled for May 25.

This week, for the first time, Pashinyan spoke directly about Armenia’s readiness to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. “86,600 square kilometers of Azerbaijan’s territory includes Nagorno-Karabakh. If we understand each other correctly, Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within certain borders, and Baku recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia in an area of ​​29,800 square kilometers,” Pashinyan said (quoted by Interfax).

However, the Prime Minister has not yet clarified whether the issue of the status of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh has been raised. He proposed discussing the problems of the rights and security of Armenians of the unrecognized republic in the form of Baku-Stepanakert negotiations.