Azerbaijan to Use COP-29 as a Smokescreen to Legitimize Future Escalation, Says Armenian MFA

YEREVAN — Azerbaijan will use COP-29 as a smokescreen in an attempt to legitimize future escalations, according to Ani Badalyan, spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry. This comment was made in response to allegations from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which claimed that Armenia is trying to persuade world leaders to ignore the COP-29 summit set to take place in Baku this November.

“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not respond to the questions I raised in my October 4 comments. The questions were as follows: Is Azerbaijan planning aggression against the Republic of Armenia? Is it refusing to recognize the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia? Is it abandoning the peace agenda?” Badalyan said in an interview with Armenpress.

“Official Baku’s aggressive rhetoric and refusal to sign the peace treaty that includes the agreed-upon articles have led many Armenian and international experts to conclude that Azerbaijan will use COP-29 to create a smokescreen in an attempt to legitimize its future escalations,” she added.

According to Badalyan, the number of such analyses has been growing. Many analysts believe that ruling out this prospect requires the signing of the agreed-upon content of the peace treaty before COP-29. Otherwise, leaders attending the summit in Baku may unwittingly become instigators of conflict. Armenia has stated that it is prepared to sign the peace treaty ahead of COP-29.

“I emphasize that the Republic of Armenia endorsed the decision to hold COP-29 in Baku as a means of establishing trust between the parties and promoting peace in the region. We would not want it to be used for the opposite purpose,” Badalyan concluded.