Armenia Will Not Sign Peace Treaty Without Security Guarantees for Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN — Armenia will not sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without negotiating security guarantees for Nagorno-Karabakh, secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigoryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service

“There is no question that agreements to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh issue need to be reached, and our understanding with our international partners is that the peace treaty could be finalized if there is progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, if there are guarantees of ensuring [the Karabakh Armenians’] security and rights, and if Armenia is certain that there will be no ethnic cleansing in Karabakh.”

Grigoryan said that such guarantees could include the establishment of a “demilitarized zone” around Karabakh or “international presence” in the Armenian-populated territory. He indicated that Baku and Yerevan have reached no agreements on that so far.

Grigoryan said that the Azerbaijani side is not interested in negotiating in good faith. He pointed to the March 5 armed incident near Stepanakert which left three Karabakh police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead.