Yerevan called late on Monday for the “immediate” start of Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on such a treaty while saying that Baku is “preparing the ground” for fresh military action in Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani army captured a village in eastern Karabakh and surrounding territory last Thursday, triggering deadly fighting with Karabakh Armenian forces. Azerbaijani troops partially withdrew from the area on Sunday.
Artur Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker representing the main opposition Hayastan alliance, described Yerevan’s response to the escalation as contradictory and worrying. He claimed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government signaled readiness to make “new concessions” to Baku.
“As long as Armenia has not demonstrated what its red lines are, it will be quite dangerous to start negotiations while being in a weak position,” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“They are talking about rising tensions but are not taking any serious preventive measures,” said Tigran Abrahamian of the opposition Pativ Unem bloc.
Abrahamian accused the authorities of putting Armenia at the mercy of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
“It’s one thing when you have a modernized and effective army and it’s another when you pin your hopes on a supposed agenda of peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey and take no meaningful steps to achieve it,” he said.
Lawmakers from Pashinian’s Civil Contract refused to comment on the offer to Baku publicized after a late-night session of Armenia’s Security Council.
Responding to the offer, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Baku is prepared for talks on the peace treaty but expects the Armenian side to take unspecified “concrete steps” first.
In a statement, the ministry said that the peace deal must be based on five elements that were presented to Yerevan on March 10. Those include, among other things, a mutual commitment to recognize each other’s territorial integrity.
Armenian leaders have said that the five-point Azerbaijani proposal is acceptable to them in principle. This has fueled renewed opposition claims that Pashinian’s administration is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.