Pashinyan, in turn, called on the world to recognize the territory of the USSR-era republic as the borders of Armenia Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh should either leave the region or take Azerbaijani citizenship, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
He added that Baku wants to sign a peace agreement with Yerevan soon and put an end to the military conflict. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, said that peace will come when the international community recognizes the country's territory within the borders of the Armenian SSR. It did not include Nagorno-Karabakh in Soviet times.
Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh must either take Azerbaijani citizenship or leave the region. This was stated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on AzTV.
According to Aliyev, Baku intends to sign a peace agreement in the near future to put an end to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
On April 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that mutual distrust has become a matter of principle for Yerevan and Baku, and it is not yet known how to find a way out of this situation.
"The fundamental issue is mutual distrust, which is probably natural after all this. But now it is necessary to understand how to solve this problem," Pashinyan said.
He added that there are many different problems and nuances in the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. The Armenian Prime Minister stressed that peace will come for his country when the international community recognizes the country's territory within the borders of the Armenian SSR. It did not include Nagorno-Karabakh in Soviet times.
According to him, in response, Yerevan will renounce any territorial claims to other countries. Pashinyan noted that Yerevan is ready to recognize Azerbaijan within the borders of the Azerbaijani SSR if Baku recognizes Armenia within the borders of the Armenian SSR.
"Peace is possible if we clearly state in all our international relations, not only today, but also for the future, that we recognize as the Republic of Armenia the territory of 29.8 thousand square kilometers, or rather the territory of the Armenian SSR, within which we gained independence in 1991, and that we do not and will never have territorial requirements none of the countries," Pashinyan said.
On April 11, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that work on a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not going as smoothly as we would like, but there is no alternative to this.
At the end of September 2020, hostilities resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which became a continuation of the conflict that began in 1988. The new clash also resulted in civilian casualties.
After several attempts to conclude a truce, the heads of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan adopted a joint statement on a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh from November 10, 2020. Russian peacekeepers were sent to the Karabakh region.
In accordance with the agreement, the Agdam district came under the control of Azerbaijan on November 20, the Kelbajar district on November 15, and the Lachin district on December 1. However, the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan has not yet been signed.
The Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly tried to return this territory, claiming that it is occupied by Armenians. The Armenian side claims that Baku is trying to seize the lands of Armenians who will fight for them.
Peter Nikolaev
