"Let's sign an arms control agreement," was Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's latest proposal to Azerbaijan on January 13.
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| Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. (Source: Armenian Radar) |
During a meeting with members of the ruling Civil Contract Party in the city of Gavar on January 13, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed signing an arms control agreement with Azerbaijan.
At a meeting of the Civil Contract Party's initiative group, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke, noting that after becoming acquainted with Azerbaijan's proposals, one sometimes feels that an attempt is being made to create a document that legitimizes future wars.
In his statement, Prime Minister Pashinyan dismissed Baku's criticisms regarding Yerevan's purchase of weapons from France or India as inappropriate. He stated that if Azerbaijan believes Armenia should not have armed forces, then the country's right to exist is called into question, and this is completely unacceptable.
Prime Minister Pashinyan added that the issue needs to be considered in the context of regional security, acknowledging that both countries may have concerns about arms purchases.
On this basis, the two countries need to sign a peace treaty to eliminate the possibility of war. Pashinyan stated: "Let's sign an arms control agreement so that Armenia and Azerbaijan can reach concrete agreements regarding weapons and have the opportunity to monitor the implementation of this agreement."
According to Prime Minister Pashinyan, if both sides sincerely desire to achieve peace, these issues need to be resolved. He noted that so far, Armenia and Azerbaijan have used different diplomatic languages and that there will continue to be forces, both inside and outside the two countries, that are not interested in peace. Prime Minister Pashinyan concluded that the positions and statements of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are crucial to the peace process.
Earlier, on January 10, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the practical conditions for signing a peace treaty had been established, and therefore the current task was to actively incorporate these elements into the official document.
While not opposing the idea of outside countries wanting to support the reconciliation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Aliyev argued that there was no need for a guarantor for a peace treaty between the two countries, as this was a bilateral issue that the two countries should resolve themselves to prevent the current tensions from becoming a geopolitical problem.
The Azerbaijani leader also expressed confidence that no new conflict with Armenia would occur and affirmed that he would do everything within his power to prevent it.
Recently, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have declared their readiness to sign a peace agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region – a mountainous area deep within Azerbaijan's territory but with a majority Armenian population.
Previous internationally mediated peace talks have failed to produce a breakthrough. Although leaders from both countries believed at the time that a comprehensive peace treaty could be signed by the end of last year, the peace process stalled after Azerbaijan rejected meetings mediated by the EU and the US, alleging bias in favor of Armenia.
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