It is clearly impossible to have real and growing independence, prosperity, and security without peace. It is simply impossible. This was stated by Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with Ambassador John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, after his speech at the Atlantic Council and in response to the question why he is so resolutely moving towards peace with Azerbaijan.
People and political forces in Armenia are discussing how it is possible and what is the most reliable tool to ensure the security of Armenia and its people. This is a really urgent and important question. And the answer is that peace is the only reliable tool for security, the only reliable tool for prosperity is peace, Pashinyan said.
Peace is key, even for democracy, because one cannot have democracy in an environment of war. Due to historical factors, people in Armenia are not very optimistic about the peace agenda. But on the other hand, if you asked him whether he is an optimist or a pessimist, he would answer that question by saying that he does not believe that one should be optimistic or pessimistic, and one should be proactive, creative, and continuously work towards the implementation of that agenda, Pashinyan added.
He noted that no one can guarantee that the process will be successful, and the only guarantee for it is persistent work, being creative and proactive, not giving up, and continuously working to achieve the desired.
Obviously, the potential benefits of peace are important not only for the people living in Armenia, but for the entire region, and even the international community will benefit from that peace, Pashinyan said
Thus, they perceive this process as their contribution to world peace because how is world peace and stability formed when as many interested parties in international relations as possible contribute to that cause, work in that direction, Pashinyan said.
And they look at this process from that perspective, it is not only their duty to their citizens, to the region, but it is their responsibility to the international community, to international stability and peace, Pashinyan noted.
They hope that the international community will also look at this process from that perspective. They expect to receive the support of their international partners, their encouragement to continue on this path. This is the reason why they are trying to explain all the nuances of their intentions to their international partners, Pashinyan emphasized.
One of the two points not agreed upon in the negotiations on the peace treaty with Azerbaijan concerns the deployment of third-party forces along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with Ambassador John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, after his speech at the Atlantic Council Tuesday.
Azerbaijan proposes to impose a ban on the deployment of third-party forces along the border, taking into account the European civilian monitoring mission. Armenia takes note of this wish of Azerbaijan and has come up with its own proposal, which implies applying this point only in the delimited sections of the border. That is, if they have delimited a given section, it means that no third-party force should be present there. Thus, Armenia has submitted its proposal in writing and is waiting for Azerbaijan's response, Pashinyan said.
According to him, the other point concerns the lawsuits filed against each other in international courts. The idea is to withdraw all these lawsuits. In general, Armenia is not against this idea either, but its proposal is not only to withdraw these lawsuits, but also not to raise these issues in bilateral relations. Otherwise, a strange situation may arise when, for example, a certain issue is withdrawn from the trial of an international court, but one of the two parties attempts to put this issue on the table in bilateral relations and one of the parties can use this issue to provoke escalation, the Armenian PM said.
In that case, it will no longer be possible to transfer this lawsuit to international courts. Armenia is not against this idea either. It proposes to put an end to further discussions on conflict issues and open a new era of bilateral relations, starting from a new and clean page, Pashinyan added.
This means that all the important issues of the draft peace treaty have already been agreed upon. There were very deep and sensitive topics in that draft, but there is already agreement on all these issues. For example, Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to recognize each other's territorial integrity based on the borders of Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan, said the Armenian premier.
They have agreed to have a provision that Armenia and Azerbaijan have no territorial claims against each other and will not raise such claims in the future either. This is actually the cornerstone of future peace, and everything is agreed upon around it. This makes it obvious that peace is more than achievable now, and now all that is needed is political will to complete the draft peace treaty, sign it, and achieve sustainable peace, the prime minister of Armenia stated.
