UPDATE - Armenian foreign minister says 'ready' to sign peace treaty with Azerbaijan within a month

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER; REVISES DECK

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Thursday that his nation is ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

Speaking at a news conference in the capital Yerevan, Mirzoyan said the treaty may be drafted within a month.

"Armenia is ready to finalize the document of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan and sign it within a month," he stressed, but added he does not believe Baku has clearly expressed its willingness for such a step.

Commenting on Mirzoyan's remarks at a news conference in Georgia's capital Tbilisi, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov later said Armenia's territorial claims are the main obstacle to signing the treaty.

"Despite significant progress on the text of the peace agreement, the claims against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan that persist in the Constitution and other legislative acts of Armenia are the main obstacles to the peace process," he stressed.

Bayramov added that Azerbaijan, "as the initiator of the peace agenda, is determined to continue efforts to establish security and tranquility in the region."

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh when separatist forces in the region surrendered.