Armenia, Azerbaijan close to agreement on opening regional routes PM says

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated that Armenia and Azerbaijan are close to reaching a mutually acceptable solution on the reopening of regional routes.

"It seems that we are nearing a solution on the issue of reopening regional routes that could be fully mutually acceptable," Pashinyan said, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

Both Baku and Yerevan have consistently stated that approximately 80 per cent of the draft text for the Agreement on Peace and Establishment of Interstate Relations is now finalised, although some obstacles remain.

Out of the 16 articles in the draft document, there is full agreement on 13, while three articles remain contentious. The Azerbaijani side is firmly opposed to signing a limited agreement based solely on the articles that have been accepted, while Armenia has proposed an interim deal that would exclude the three disputed provisions.

The nature of these contentious articles has always been a critical question.

Although the specific details of the three unresolved clauses have not been disclosed publicly, it is believed that one pertains to Azerbaijan’s concerns about territorial claims against its internationally recognised Karabakh region, as referenced in the preamble of the Armenian Constitution. Azerbaijan has consistently emphasized this point as a crucial condition for finalizing the long-anticipated agreement.

By Naila Huseynova