Armenia says it intends to sign peace deal with Azerbaijan by end of 2022

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Armenia’s prime minister said on Wednesday that Yerevan intends to sign a peace deal with Azerbaijan by the end of the year.

"Honestly, I want it (the peace agreement) to be signed before the end of this year. How realistic is this? I will answer this question this way: the government and I will do everything to make it realistic," Nikol Pashinyan said during an address to the Armenian parliament, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.

The report also announced an extraordinary meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Security Council initiated by Armenia to “discuss the situation on the border with Azerbaijan” and expects that it will be held in the near future.

"As you know, we appealed to the CSTO, and a decision was also made at a meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council, as a result of which the group arrived in Armenia and observed the situation on the ground. In the near future, we will initiate an extraordinary meeting of the CSTO Council to discuss this report. I hope that the meeting will take place as soon as possible," Pashinyan is quoted.

The report also said Pashinyan confirmed that the trilateral meeting will take place on Oct. 31 in Sochi.

"There is an invitation from the President of Russia to hold a trilateral meeting in Sochi on Oct. 31. I confirmed my participation, I have no information about the consent of the President of Azerbaijan," Pashinyan said.

The trilateral meeting, set to bring together Putin, Aliyev, and Pashinyan, was initially confirmed by the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Russia for the next trilateral summit, where it is planned to discuss a whole range of trilateral and bilateral issues,” Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram late on Monday.

The last meeting between Putin, Aliyev, and Pashinyan took place in Sochi on Nov. 26, 2021.