Pashinyan and Aliyev Hold Talks at the BRICS Summit in Kazan

KAZAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met on Thursday on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies held in the Russian city of Kazan.

Pashinyan’s press office said that they discussed ongoing efforts to negotiate an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty and delineate the border between their countries and “other issues of mutual interest.”

A short statement released by the office did not clarify whether Aliyev and Pashinyan made further progress towards signing such a treaty. It said they instructed their foreign ministers to continue talks on the peace deal “in order to finalize and sign it as soon as possible.”

The ministers already pledged to do so at their most recent meeting held in Istanbul on October 18. They gave no indications that the two sides narrowed their remaining differences. Baku has since continued to reject an Armenian proposal to sign an initial agreement that would leave out those sticking points.

Pashinyan again repeated that proposal in a speech at the BRICS summit delivered earlier on Thursday. He said the draft treaty “has been agreed upon by at least 80-90 percent.” Its agreed provisions resolve “all fundamental issues necessary for establishing a solid foundation for peace” between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said.

Pashinyan also criticized Baku for linking the peace deal with a change of Armenia’s constitution which Aliyev says contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. He said a recent ruling by the Armenian Constitutional Court confirmed the absence of such claims.