Aliyev reiterated that Armenia must not only change its constitution but also ensure the return of Azerbaijanis who lived there until the late 1980s, stop buying weapons and agree to disband the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh. He confirmed that two other demands are the remaining sticking points in Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on a bilateral peace treaty.
Baku wants to add clauses to the draft treaty requiring the two sides to drop international lawsuits filed against each other and banning the presence of third-party monitors or troops on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“Under the guise of so-called European monitors, a NATO infrastructure has been created from the Armenian side on the border with our country,” claimed Aliyev whose country has forged very close military ties with a key NATO member state, Turkey.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said last month that he has made a “counterproposal” to remove EU monitors from only demarcated border sections. Baku insisted last week on their full withdrawal.
An agreement on these two issues would not be enough to pave the way for the signing of the peace deal. Speaking to the Russia Today news agency, Aliyev again demanded a change of Armenia’s constitution which he said contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan.
He went on to claim that Yerevan’s arms acquisitions pose a security threat to his country. The Armenian military is receiving weapons from not only France and India but also the United States, he said without offering any proof of the claim.
“We cannot just act like observers. And we have repeatedly told Armenia and its sponsors in the U.S. State Department that the armament must stop. But unfortunately, they do not listen to us, Armenia's armament is advancing rapidly,” Aliyev said, adding that the Western powers will not help Armenia “on the ground” in the event of another war with Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani government plans to spend about $5 billion on defense and national security next year, a fact emphasized by Aliyev. Armenia’s 2025 defense budget is projected at $1.7 billion.
Armenian officials said earlier this year that Baku may be planning to launch another military aggression against Armenia after hosting the COP29 climate summit in November. Some observers in Yerevan say that increased contacts between Azerbaijani and Turkish military officials reported in recent weeks may be a sign of preparations for such military action.