The Voice of Russia
March 21 2010

Armenia proposes a non-aggression pact with Azerbaijan

Boris Pavlishchev Mar 21, 2010 12:45 Moscow Time

Armenian President Serge Sargsyan has appealed to Azerbaijan to sign a
non-aggression pact which he hopes would prepare the ground for
continued talks about the future of Nagorno Karabakh – an Armenian
enclave which declared its independence from Azerbaijan in the wake of
the 1992 Soviet breakup.

In an interview with Euronews Sargsyan said that non-use of force is
an underlying principle of international law, which holds the key to a
lasting settlement of the long-running territorial dispute.

In an earlier conciliatory move towards Baku, the Armenian leader said
he was ready to accept the modified Madrid Principles of solving the
conflict. Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev responded by saying the
negotiations were already in their final stage but insisted on the
return of all Karabakh territories and the withdrawal of the Armenian
forces stationed there.

All this meaning that Armenia is ready for a compromise, to give back
the areas around Nagorno Karabakh it seized during the brief war of
the early 1990s, and also to give the region a temporary status as
stipulated by the Madrid agreements the Armenian and Azeri president
were handed during the 2007 OSCE summit.

Simultaneously, President Sargsyan reiterated his country’s
longstanding premise about the people of Nagorno-Karabakh having every
right to self-determination, adding that Karabakh was artificially
appended to Azerbaijan during the Soviet times and Armenia could not
just give it up.

"In Moscow Carnegie Center expert Alexei Malashenko does not believe
the conflict will be settled any time soon. An economically successful
Azerbaijan sees itself as a South Caucasus superpower, which can use
its enormous material, human and military potential to achieve its
goals – hence its consistent refusal to give any ground on the Nagorno
Karabakh issue".

At the same time, Malashenko does not think a new war is imminent
because neither Russia nor Europe will let it happen. Neither will
Turkey, which 17 years ago broke off diplomatic relations with Armenia
precisely over Nagorno Karabakh. Which means that the international
community should show maximum understanding for the two sides’
positions on the issue, no matter how different they may be, and work
hard to get the settlement process going.

Russia, both independently and as part of the OSCE, plays an active
mediatory role here having already hosted several trilateral summits
to deal with the matter. In 2008 Russian, Armenian and Azeri
presidents signed a declaration underscoring their shared desire to
resolve the conflict on the basis of international law. The latest
such meeting was in January in Sochi where the sides agreed to offer
their own proposals in addition to those made in Madrid.

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