Former NATO Secretary General deems Azerbaijan's actions as delaying peace agreement with Armenia

According to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Secretary General and founder of Rasmussen Global, the swift signing of a peace treaty with Armenia is in Azerbaijan’s interest.

"However, Azerbaijan’s recent demand to amend the Armenian Constitution suggests that Baku will attempt to delay the signing of the treaty," Rasmussen said at a press conference in Ijevan, Armenia, in response to a question about the possibility of Azerbaijan signing a peace agreement with Armenia.

He stated that Azerbaijan is likely to delay or postpone the signing of the peace agreement.

“In my opinion, the swift signing of a peace agreement is in Azerbaijan’s interest. I am not going to speculate on when that will happen, but the fact that Azerbaijan has now raised an issue- Azerbaijan’s demand to amend the Armenian Constitution-that was not discussed during negotiations suggests that Azerbaijan will likely try to delay the signing,” Rasmussen noted.

The former NATO Secretary General emphasized that constitutional amendments would be a complex and lengthy process, even if there were a willingness to implement them.

“Even if there is a strong desire to take such a step, it would take a long time to carry out. I do not understand why this issue has suddenly been raised,” Rasmussen stressed.

Addressing a question about the possible return of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to their homeland, Rasmussen expressed regret that Azerbaijan had launched a military attack against Karabakh.

On March 13, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that negotiations on the terms of the peace treaty had been successfully concluded. The Armenian government has expressed readiness to begin discussions with Azerbaijan on the date and venue for signing the agreement.

However, Azerbaijan continues to falsely claim that the Armenian Constitution contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan and has proposed amending it as a precondition for signing the peace agreement. Baku has also demanded the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group as another precondition. Additionally, Azerbaijan continues to falsely assert that Armenia is refusing to fulfill its commitments regarding the unblocking of regional communications.

In parallel with these preconditions, Azerbaijan has been spreading false claims for several days, accusing Armenia of border shootings.