Yerevan has no time to think: peace treaty with Baku must be signed Countdown started

The prospect of signing a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is becoming increasingly real. Throwing the leadership of Armenia from one table to another is definitely useless. Except for the official Yerevan, everyone has already understood and accepted the current situation in the region. Nevertheless, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his entourage are still trying to grasp at straws and give their people unrealistic promises inspired by Western populists.

The Armenian newspaper Hraparak, referring to its sources, meanwhile, claims that the collective West requires Pashinyan to sign a peace agreement by the end of the year: “According to our source, the issue was also discussed on October 6 in Prague behind closed doors. There is information that [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev proposed to sign the agreement on November 9.” However, Pashinyan, according to the same Armenian newspaper, again opposed, citing the fact that on November 9, 2020, a statement of surrender was signed after the 44-day war and “this day is associated with bad associations among the Armenian people.” That is, the prime minister seemed to have said that the people of Armenia can assume that the peace agreement will become a second capitulation.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a telephone conversation with the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia. During his conversation with Aliyev, Blinken described the recent meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides as positive steps towards a sustainable peace deal. The president of Azerbaijan also expressed confidence that if Armenia shows political will, then a peace treaty can be signed before the end of this year.

The position of Russia and the CSTO military-political bloc, on which the Armenian leader pinned his hopes until the very end, is also known to everyone. Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speeches has repeatedly insisted on the mandatory implementation in full of the agreements between the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia dated November 10, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, as well as the activation of the trilateral working group on the development of economic and transport ties in the region.

It became obvious that the forces that Armenia once relied on have already accepted the fair position of Azerbaijan today. Moreover, some of them have never had an influence on regional processes and now, as before, they simply cannot change geopolitical realities. In addition, the world centres are now not up to Armenia and its fictitious ideas and claims to be chosen. At present, the problems on the international agenda are much more important than the Armenian dreams of accretion of Azerbaijani lands and concern for the "Armenia" project. As you know, quite a few politicians at the international level, even heads of states, including European ones, two years ago in every possible way avoided publicly recognizing Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan, emphasizing in their speeches the need to recognize the “special status” of the region and calling it nothing more than a toponym invented by Armenians "Nagorno-Karabakh". However, now their position has changed dramatically. After the 44-day war, all these influential people stopped talking about "status" and added the notorious "Nagorno" to the name of Karabakh.

All this more than convincingly shows that the world has recognized the just demands of Azerbaijan, the legitimacy of its struggle for its lands. The thesis “the conflict is over, there is no concept of Nagorno-Karabakh” was accepted by the world community in the political and legal plane at all levels. After November 10, 2020, the geopolitical clock in the region is determined by Baku time, and this should be understood and accepted as a given by the Armenians as well. Azerbaijan is creating a new order in the region, and the project called "Armenia" is closed, at least in its former form.

If Yerevan continues to drag out the deadlines and evade the inevitable and only true path - signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, arranging provocations on the border, sabotage, refuse to fulfil its obligations, then this may lead to another escalation. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan stands for peace and diplomatic solution to issues, our patience is not unlimited. And now, the fate of Armenia depends on the right choice, the right position of the Armenian leadership, while Baku will achieve its goal in any scenario. Official Yerevan must understand that even after the liberation of its territories, Azerbaijan has not abandoned the process of building and strengthening its army in accordance with modern challenges. New armed groups are being created, weapons of the latest type are being purchased, new contracts are being concluded with world arms manufacturers.

The president of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that “our positions on the border with Armenia will be further strengthened. If Armenia again applies its old tactics in determining the borders, tries to drag out time, then as a result, it will regret it itself. We are closely monitoring the actions of revanchist forces raising their heads in Armenia. Let them know about it too. On the top of that mountain, my words are written: “Iron Fist” is in place, let no one forget about it.” And the Armenian side should not doubt the words of the head of Azerbaijan - Yerevan knows better than others that he does not throw words into the wind.

That is why Armenia must show political will and fulfil its obligations without wasting time, since the loss of days, hours, and seconds can turn out to be much more colossal damage for it.