Britain's The Guardian publishes article on Azerbaijan-Armenia relations

The prestigious publication "The Guardian" published an article about Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

The author of the article, Patrick Wintour, first of all recalled that these days, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in St. Petersburg. It was noted that Azerbaijani officials said that the country is close to signing a peace agreement with Armenia. This will put an end to the long-standing conflict. According to Patrick Wintour, as a result of anti-terrorist measures, Azerbaijan has fully regained control over the Karabakh region.

It was stressed that the two countries have accelerated negotiations on signing a peace agreement with mutual recognition of borders and normalisation of relations.

It was brought to the attention of the readers that recently both sides showed goodwill and exchanged prisoners of war. In doing so, the two sides issued a joint statement without a mediator.

The article stated that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Pashinyan in St. Petersburg on December 26.

The two sides have already exchanged several potential and relatively short-term drafts of a peace agreement. Elchin Amirbekov, the Azerbaijani president's representative for special assignments, said that the country is currently awaiting Armenia's response to the proposals made in the latest draft of the peace agreement.

Elchin Amirbekov said: "It is important to realise that at such a crucial stage of negotiations we are not so far from signing the final agreement, and in this case we need efforts that will lead to the result. I know that after three decades of negotiations that have not yielded any serious results, there is a certain fatigue on each side, as well as frustration that the parties will continue to meet with each other without any real results."

The author notes that, according to E. Amirbekov, the five principles of the draft peace agreement include the following points: mutual respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of internationally recognised borders, and any territorial claims and conflicts against each other. now and in the future to refuse any actions contrary to the UN Charter.

As the issue of border demarcation is complex, it can be resolved at a later stage.

Azerbaijan also wants the agreement to include a dispute resolution mechanism. Quoting Emirbekov's words, the publication writes: "We are also in favor of reaching an agreement that reflects the ability to resolve all possible misunderstandings and disagreements that may arise."

At the same time, the author touches upon the issue of Nakhchivan in a statement signed in November 2020. According to the author, Pashinyan agreed to open a transportation link connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, passing through Armenian territory.
"We cannot waste any more time. In three years, Armenia has not even started the feasibility study of the 42-kilometer road. Of course, we cannot force Armenia to do the work it has committed to do; moreover, it is very ridiculous to assume that we will interfere in the territory of this country to realize this project even by force. That is why we have asked Tehran to build a road and railroad line passing through Iran," said the Representative-at-Large.