Azerbaijan on Thursday said a “de facto peace” exists with archrival Armenia but a formal treaty is needed to finalize the normalization of bilateral ties.
"In order to bring this process to a logical end, a peace treaty must be signed and Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan must end," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told those attending a meeting with Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary-General Martin Chungong in Baku.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.
Last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated a counterterrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.
Last month, the sides swapped prisoners of war, a first step toward normalizing relations.
The European Union, the United States and regional powers Türkiye and Russia praised the move as a "breakthrough." The pair also discussed the withdrawal of troops from their shared border, but no concrete decision followed.
The prisoner exchange raised hopes for reviving face-to-face talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Aliyev.
The pair have met several times for normalization talks mediated by EU chief Charles Michel. But the process has been on hold since October.
Traditional regional power broker Russia bogged down with its dragging Ukraine offensive, has seen its influence wane in the Caucasus.
Aliyev said Armenia still claims Azerbaijani territory in official documents such as its constitution, adding that peace could be achieved if Yerevan stops making the claims and makes changes to its legal documents.
"Stating the importance of this to be implemented in Armenia as soon as possible, the head of state emphasized that the initiation of internal discussions on this issue in Armenia is considered a positive step and it can create a good opportunity for the peace process to be concluded soon," the statement read.
Similarly, on Thursday, Pashinyan also argued his country’s decades-old claims on Karabakh hinder the establishment of peace in the Caucasus region.
"I wonder, does our state policy have to be based on the decision by the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh and the (Soviet era) Supreme Council of Armenia, according to which Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh should be united, as stipulated in the (1990 Armenian) Declaration of Independence? If so, it means that we are going to have a war now, we will not achieve peace," Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio in an interview.
At the same time, he said that Armenia must have a combat-ready army to defend its territory "within the borders of the former Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic."
Pashinyan also criticized the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russia-led military bloc, for not helping in the issue of Karabakh; however, he did not mention how the organization was established to defend its member countries in case of aggression and that Karabakh is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
Armenia criticized Russia's refusal to fight for Armenia, and said that after the events in Karabakh "for a number of reasons, the Russian Federation cannot be Armenia's main partner in the defense and military-technical spheres."
Pashinyan has also angered the Kremlin by questioning the foundations of the alliance, saying “Because Moscow has repeatedly let Armenia down so, Yerevan must think about forging closer ties with the United States and France.”