Pashinian voiced the proposal on January 13 just as he accused Azerbaijan of effectively laying claim to Armenian territory and dealing a “serious blow to the peace process.” He referred to the latest statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his top aides.
Aliyev last week renewed his demands for Armenia to open an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. Also, he again demanded Armenian withdrawal from “eight Azerbaijani villages” and dismissed Yerevan’s insistence on using the most recent Soviet maps to delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Pashinian also complained that Aliyev has rejected a mutual withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops from the border and other confidence-building measures proposed by him earlier.
“I can make another proposal: let’s sign a treaty on arms control so that Armenia and Azerbaijan reach concrete agreements on weapons and are able to verify the implementation of that agreement,” he told members of his Civil Contract party.
Artur Khachatrian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, scoffed at Pashinian’s remarks, saying that the premier simply wants to make Armenians believe that his conciliatory policy on the conflict with Azerbaijan has not been an utter failure.
“Azerbaijan has never accepted any proposal made by Pashinian,” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It’s illogical to assume that he will agree to formally limit his arsenal of weapons.”
“Just a few months ago, he bought $1.2 billion worth of new weapons from Israel,” he said. “Will Aliyev now agree to let the defeated Pashinian tell him how many tanks, drones, warplanes or assault rifles he should have? That’s a joke. Who is Pashinian mocking?”
Pro-government lawmakers pointedly declined to comment on Pashinian’s latest offer to Aliyev. Baku has still not reacted to it.
Aliyev has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan’s will continue its military buildup despite its victory in the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku was due to spend a total of $3.5 billion on defense and national security last year. By comparison, Armenia’s 2023 defense spending was projected at $1.25 billion.
Aliyev’s latest statements were construed by Armenian opposition politicians and analysts as a further sign that he plans to ratchet up military pressure on Yerevan. Some of them suggested that Azerbaijan is gearing up for another military offensive against Armenia.