Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks will not take place in October

Negotiations between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels, scheduled for the end of October, will not take place. This was stated on October 25 by the Special Representative of the European Union (EU) for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, in a video message to participants in the forum of the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia (APRI Armenia). According to him, the meeting will not take place due to “lack of time.” He added that the EU is trying to organize a new dialogue between heads of state.

In his address, Klaar also drew attention to the 3 + 3 format, within which on October 23, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey and Iran (the Georgian side did not participate) discussed regional security issues and the resumption of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace negotiations in Tehran. The special representative said that although this platform does not solve the problem, it can be useful in normalizing the situation in the region.

Later, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, at a joint press conference following negotiations with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, said that the cancellation of the planned meeting of the heads of state of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels took place on the initiative of the Azerbaijani side. “Obviously, the Azerbaijani president did not find time in his schedule. I hope the problem really is timing. Yerevan is ready to take part in this meeting,” Armenia Today reports the words of the Armenian minister. Vedomosti sent a request to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Mirzoyan also stated that Yerevan is ready to sign a peace agreement based on mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries, delimitation and demarcation of borders according to the latest maps of the USSR General Staff. The minister added that the Armenian side is interested in unblocking regional communications and creating a “crossroads of the world” on the territory of Armenia.

On the same day, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that Moscow continues a dialogue with Baku and Yerevan to help them resolve the conflict, but there has not yet been any significant progress on the Russian proposal to use Russia as a platform for preparing a peace treaty.

A possible meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan before the end of the month was announced by the President of the European Council Charles Michel during the summit of the European Political Community in Granada on October 5, where Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations were also planned with the mediation of the leaders of France Emmanuel Macron, Germany Olaf Scholz and Michel, but at the last moment the president Azerbaijan canceled its visit.

The APA agency, citing sources, wrote on October 4 that Baku insisted on the participation of Turkish representatives in the negotiations, but was refused by the German and French sides. In addition, according to the agency, the Azerbaijani side’s refusal to meet with the Armenian prime minister could be due to the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities are not interested in the mediation services of France, which, in their opinion, takes a pro-Armenian position in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

On October 23, following the visit of French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu to Armenia, the parties entered into a contract for the supply of three French GM200 radars and a memorandum of understanding regarding future supplies of Mistral MANPADS.

Earlier, Pashinyan also canceled his visit to Bishkek for the CIS summit, where Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations were planned on October 13. Subsequently, in the Kyrgyz capital, Aliyev said that Yerevan is not interested in normalizing bilateral relations. “The Armenian prime minister flies to Granada for six hours, participates in an incomprehensible meeting there where Azerbaijan is discussed without Azerbaijan, and he cannot fly to Bishkek for 2-3 hours – he has important matters,” the Azerbaijani president added on October 11.

The cancellation of negotiations between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Brussels could indeed have occurred on Azerbaijan’s initiative, believes expert on military security issues of the South Caucasus states Niyazi Niyazov. According to him, Yerevan is trying to use the political support of the EU to impose its agenda in negotiations with Baku and force it to make numerous concessions on issues of the post-war structure of the region.

On the other hand, the West, playing the Armenian card and threatening to impose sanctions against the Azerbaijani authorities, seeks to put political pressure on Azerbaijan in order to receive economic preferences from it. First of all, we are talking about discounts on Azerbaijani energy resources, the expert added. In addition, Niyazov continues, putting pressure on the Azerbaijani side, the West would like to see in Azerbaijan a more pliable partner for itself and turn it against Moscow.