According to Sargis Khandanian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations, Pashinian made the offer during “informal contacts” with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the fringes of last week’s Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Moscow.
“It was suggested that the foreign ministers [of the two states] have a two-day meeting, agree on one or two articles of the peace treaty that have not been agreed upon and the leaders then sign the treaty before the COP29 in Baku,” Khandanian told the Armenpress news agency. “To be honest, I am not aware of Azerbaijan's reaction, but I hope this logic will be implemented.”
The remarks contrasted with what Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said during a conference in Prague earlier in the day. Grigorian said that Baku and Yerevan will need “a lot of time” to sort out the remaining sticking points. He therefore reaffirmed an Armenian proposal to sign an interim agreement that would leave out those disagreements.
Aliyev on Monday again rejected this proposal which has been repeatedly made by Pashinian and other Armenian officials in recent weeks. He called it unrealistic.
Pashinian’s domestic critics say he is desperate to secure an incomplete peace deal in hopes of misleading Armenians and increasing his chances of holding on to power. They also claim that Azerbaijan has no intention to make peace with Armenia before clinching more far-reaching concessions from Pashinian.
Aliyev made fresh threats of military action against Armenia last Friday, accusing Yerevan of playing “dangerous games.” The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded by saying Baku may be “preparing aggression” against Armenia.