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The UK will fully lift its arms embargo on Armenia and Azerbaijan and upgrade its bilateral relationships with both countries to strategic partnerships, Stephen Doughty, UK Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said in a statement to parliament.
“The UK warmly welcomes the progress made by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards peace,” the UK minister said, mentioning the U.S.-brokered peace summit hosted by President Trump in Washington D. C. which resulted in the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8.
“These developments mark a pivotal moment in efforts to secure lasting peace and stability in the region. In recognition of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s progress, and to support continued momentum towards peace, the UK Government have decided to upgrade their bilateral relationships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to strategic partnerships. These partnerships will formalise co-operation in areas including trade, security, and defence, and will be underpinned by annual ministerial-level meetings to review progress. I visited Armenia and Azerbaijan from 24 to 26 August to reaffirm UK support and discussed with the leaders of both countries how the UK could take practical measures to reinforce the prospects for long-term peace in the South Caucasus,” Doughty said.
“We have taken immediate steps to welcome and support Armenia and Azerbaijan on their pathway to peace by supporting the closure of the OSCE Minsk Group, in line with their request. The UK welcomes the consensus reached on 1 September to formally dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group structures.
Given the significant progress made in advancing peace, and the historic outcomes of the recent summit in Washington hosted by President Trump, the UK considers that the rationale underpinning the OSCE’s 1992 recommended arms embargo on “all deliveries of weapons and munitions to forces engaged in combat in the Nagorno-Karabakh area” has fallen away. The UK will therefore fully lift its arms embargo on Armenia and Azerbaijan. This decision will enable the UK’s security and defence partnerships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to evolve in a rapidly changing context, and will allow the UK to support efforts to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity, including in response to conventional and hybrid threats from other states and non-state actors. Export and trade licence applications for Armenia and Azerbaijan will of course continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the robust UK Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, and the Government will not issue any licence where to do so would be inconsistent with any of the criteria. We will keep the regional and internal security situation of both Azerbaijan and Armenia under close review.
We sincerely hope this is a moment of opportunity for peace, security and prosperity in the South Caucasus.
The UK stands ready to work with both countries, the United States, the European Union and other partners to play a constructive and proactive role in supporting this transformation, and the security and stability of the wider region.”