UNITED NATIONS: Armenia\u2019s prime minister said Thursday that peace with Azerbaijan was \u201cwithin reach,\u201d appealing to his neighbor to sign a treaty to turn the page on decades of conflict.
\nExactly a year after Azerbaijan triumphed in a lightning military offensive, Armenia promised to meet a key demand of its historic rival: to ensure travel links.
\n\u201cToday I want to say that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan not only is possible, but is within reach,\u201d Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly.
\n\u201cAll we need to do is reach out and take it,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe pain is very deep and intense, but we must now focus on peace, because peace is the only truth understandable to the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan,\u201d he said.
\nThe two former Soviet republics had seen decades of war and tension over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijan.
\nAfter a series of slow-moving negotiations, Azerbaijan rushed in troops last year and swiftly seized back Nagorno-Karabakh, whose entire population of nearly 120,000 people fled to Armenia.
\nFacing a weaker hand and the lack of intervention by Armenia\u2019s historic ally Russia, Pashinyan has insisted on the need for peace but faced protests from nationalists opposed to compromise.
\nIn his UN address, Pashinyan said he was ready to meet the Baku government\u2019s key demand of allowing transportation access across Armenian soil to the exclave of Nakhchivan, letting Azerbaijan connect its main territory with its traditional ally Turkiye.
\n\u201cThe Republic of Armenia is ready to fully ensure the safety of the passage of cargo vehicles and people on its territory. It is our wish, our commitment, and we can do it,\u201d Pashinyan said, saying it could become a \u201ccrossroads of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan\u2019s objections to a section of the Armenian constitution that speaks of uniting with Nagorno-Karabakh.
\nPashinyan said that Armenia had its own issues with Azerbaijan\u2019s constitution but that it did not see any obstacle as a peace agreement \u201csolves the problem.\u201d
\nAzerbaijan and Armenia both say that 80 percent of a treaty is ready, including border delineation, but Azerbaijan first wants a resolution of all issues.
\nSome diplomats view Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev\u2019s stance as cynical, considering the difficulty that Pashinyan would have in changing the constitution.
\nThe diplomats say Azerbaijan believes it can afford to wait as it has the clear upper hand, with its wealth from gas, a modernized military bolstered by Turkish weapons, and a rising international profile, with Baku in November the host of the COP29 climate summit.
\nPashinyan insisted that Azerbaijan and Armenia should sign the draft treaty immediately, explaining, \u201cThere is no precedent of a peace agreement or any agreement that would regulate and solve everything.\u201d
\nA treaty and diplomatic relations would improve \u201cthe overall atmosphere\u201d between the two countries, which will \u201csignificantly facilitate the solution of the remaining issues,\u201d Pashinyan said.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the two countries\u2019 foreign ministers on Thursday in New York.
\nBlinken \u201cencouraged continued progress by both countries to finalize an agreement as soon as possible,\u201d State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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