Aliyev and Pashinian had been expected to sign a document laying out the key parameters of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty at a meeting with the leaders of the European Union, Germany and France slated for October 5. However, Aliyev withdrew from the talks at the last minute, citing pro-Armenian statements made by French officials.
EU Council President Charles Michel said afterwards that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders will likely hold a trilateral meeting with him in Brussels later in October. It was confirmed last week that the rescheduled meeting will not take place in the coming days.
“It means that [Aliyev] doesn’t want a meeting at the moment,” said Armen Khachatrian, the deputy chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament earlier in the day, Pashinian said that Yerevan and Baku broadly agree on three key principles of the Western-backed treaty discussed by them. Those include mutually recognizing the Armenian-Azerbaijani border dating back to Soviet times, and using late Soviet-era maps to delimit it, he told lawmakers.
Khachatrian claimed, however, that Baku has so far declined to formalize those understandings.
“They may say in the presence of international mediators that these are very good principles, that they agree to them … but take no real steps in practice to implement those principles,” he told reporters.
“Right now we see some delays, which is not good,” added the lawmaker representing Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party.
Still, Khachatrian expressed confidence that Western pressure will force Baku to stop dragging its feet. The EU urged Baku and Yerevan late last week to finalize the treaty before the end of this year.