One year after Azerbaijan mounted a lightning offensive a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan appears out of reach for now, France 24 writes.
Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed earlier this year to delineate a 12-kilometer stretch of border, but differences have emerged on how to finalize the understanding. As world leaders met last year at the UN General Assembly, Azerbaijan swiftly seized back Artsakh. The entire population of nearly 120,000 people fled to Armenia, which—weakened and embittered by the lack of support from traditional backer Russia—months later entered into talks with Azerbaijan on normalizing relations. While some in the Armenian diaspora have sought punishment of Azerbaijan over what they described as ethnic cleansing, Western governments have focused on reaching a peace agreement in hopes of avoiding another war.
The top diplomats of Armenia and Azerbaijan are again visiting the U.N. General Assembly, this time not for mutual recriminations but for talks together with their Western counterparts. The U.S. and France have been on the forefront of diplomatic efforts. Both countries insist they are committed to peace despite obstacles to overcome. “Armenia has shown multiple times its sincere hope and determination to reach a just and durable peace in the region, with the establishment of relations between the two countries on the basis of respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Hasmik Tolmajyan, the Armenian ambassador in Paris, said. ‘Armenia wants to sign an agreement but Azerbaijan is opposed, using the well-known diplomatic principle that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” Azerbaijani analyst Togroul Djuvarli said. Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Paris, Leyla Abdullayeva, said that the two sides agreed on nearly 80 percent of the points in a draft peace treaty.
“But the outstanding issues,” she said, cannot be “swept under the rug.” Azerbaijan wants Armenia to allow transportation access to its exclave of Nakhijevan. It also wants Armenia to remove from its constitution a stated goal of unifying with Artsakh. Some Western diplomats have voiced skepticism over Azerbaijan’s demand, saying constitutional change in Armenia would require a referendum—a long, uncertain process that would give Azerbaijan an excuse not to sign.
Potentially adding to momentum is COP29, the annual U.N. climate change talks that bring together officials from across the world, which will take place in Azerbaijani capital Baku in November. In Washington, Senator Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has pressed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to free political prisoners and Armenian detainees ahead of COP29, an event he said “should come with responsibilities and expectations.”
