“I welcome you all to the ‘Orbeli Forum 2025,’ held under the theme ‘Building Peace and Multilateral Cooperation,’ and I must say that this topic fully reflects the working agenda of the Government of Armenia and the ruling majority,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the conference organized by the Orbeli Analytical Center.
He continued: “If, for example, three years ago we were mainly facing challenges and the need to manage them on a daily basis, today we can confidently say that alongside challenges, we also have success—and even a success story. Let me not start with the most obvious example, but rather go back a little and emphasize that this success story began in 2024, when Armenia and Azerbaijan launched the border delimitation process in Tavush region”.
According to Pashinyan, that process provoked intense discussions and criticism within Armenia, but in retrospect, it is now recognized as a success: “No matter how difficult it was at the time to explain to our public what was happening and why, what happened has become a success story for us. By my instruction, our state institutions—along with myself personally—organize visits to the newly delimited areas of Kirants and nearby zones for representatives of civil society, intellectuals, political figures, sometimes party members, and members of the Diaspora, to demonstrate what we mean when we speak of a ‘peace agenda.’ We also conduct monitoring to assess impressions and reactions afterward.
So far, I have not received a single negative response regarding what we show on site. This is a very important success story that continued with further developments. In 2024, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Regulations for the Joint Activity of Border Delimitation Commissions, which were then ratified by both countries. Essentially, this was the first bilateral international document between Armenia and Azerbaijan that has de jure legal force in both states.
One of the key provisions of that document is that the Alma-Ata Declaration serves as the fundamental basis for the border delimitation process. This is a cornerstone in the establishment of interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as both countries formally acknowledge each other’s territorial integrity based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. In practice, this means that the territory of independent Azerbaijan is identical to that of the former Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, and the territory of independent Armenia corresponds to that of the former Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. This principle is also reflected in the initial draft of the Peace Agreement and in the Washington Declaration, which is now publicly known”.
Pashinyan described the Washington Peace Summit held on August 8, 2025, as “the most significant success story” on this path: “As a result of that summit, a declaration was adopted, and a preliminary agreement on peace and the establishment of interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed. Thus, peace was established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is a crucial and defining achievement”, the Prime Minister concluded.
