“We have welcomed the courage of [Armenian Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinian who publicly recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, and we call on Azerbaijan’s leadership to do the same,” she said after talks with her Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.
Mirzoyan reiterated Yerevan’s claims that Baku could lay claim to Armenian territory even after Pashinian recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh earlier this year.
“So far we have not heard public statements by Azerbaijan’s leadership recognizing the territorial integrity of Armenia,” he told a joint news conference with Lahbib. “We heard such words only during meetings held behind closed doors, and we are very concerned about this. This may mean that Azerbaijan has territorial claims to Armenia.”
Pashinian suggested earlier this month that Azerbaijan is seeking to sign the kind of peace deal with Armenia that would not preclude such claims.
Pashinian’s most recent meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was hosted in Brussels on July 12 by Charles Michel, a former Belgian prime minister heading the European Union’s top decision-making body. Michel said after the meeting that the two leaders reaffirmed their earlier “understanding that Armenia’s territory covers 29,800 square kilometers and Azerbaijan’s 86,600 square kilometers.” Aliyev has still not publicly confirmed that.
Mirzoyan said that international mediators should make sure that Baku honors Armenian-Azerbaijani understandings brokered by them. “Not only are understandings not being respected but we are seeing opposite processes,” he said, pointing to the continuing Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Lahbib expressed serious concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Karabakh, warning of the risk of famine in the Armenian-populated region. “It is incumbent on Azerbaijan to ensure the security of Karabakh’s population and free traffic through the Lachin corridor,” she said.