YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. On the basis of a preliminary agreement, Armenia will take part in a tripartite meeting held in Brussels at the end of October. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hopes that during this meeting the previously reached agreements with Azerbaijan will be confirmed, which will mean that about 70 percent of the agreements necessary for a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been reached. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov.

In response to the following question: “We have recently witnessed terrible events in Nagorno-Karabakh. Are you afraid that a full-scale war will break in the territory of sovereign Armenia, and in your opinion, what should Armenia’s allies and partners do to prevent this?" PM Pashinyan answered: "However, I would separate the issue of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and the issue of more than 100 thousand new refugees and military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh from the issue of possible aggression of Azerbaijan against Armenia. Of course, I would not say that there is no correlation between these issues, but nevertheless these are separate issues.

He expressed hope that in the near future the agreements reached at the quadrilateral meeting in Prague on October 6, 2022 , the tripartite meeting in Brussels on May 14, 2023, and at the tripartite meeting in Brussels on July 15, 2023, will be formulated and reaffirmed, becoming the basis of a peace treaty. The Prime Minister recalled what these agreements are, which are also reflected in the statement of the President of the European Council  and the Prague statement.

 “The first principle is that Armenia and Azerbaijan mutually recognize each other’s territorial integrity. This provision was announced at the meeting held in Prague. On May 14, 2023, another step was taken in Brussels and it was recorded that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, with an area of 86,600 square kilometers, and Azerbaijan, in turn, announced that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia, with an area of 29,800 square kilometers.

The second principle is that the process of delimitation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan should take place on the basis of the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991. What's special about it? The peculiarity is that at the time of signing [this declaration] the countries of the Soviet Union were becoming or had become de facto independent countries  and in the Alma-Ata Declaration they stated that the existing Soviet administrative borders between the republics are recognized as state borders, the parties recognize the inviolability and territorial integrity of these borders.

When we say that the delimitation of the borders should take place on the basis of the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, we mean that the state maps existing at that time should be taken, and they, in fact, should become the basis for the delimitation of the borders.

And the third principle is that the opening of regional communications, including the opening of highways and railways between Armenia and Azerbaijan for each other and for international trade, should be based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity of countries.

 These principles have been agreed upon in practice, and we need to sign a peace agreement based on these agreed upon principles and move forward,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized, adding: “And, of course, we are waiting in the near future, that based on a preliminary agreement,  we will have a trilateral meeting in Brussels at the end of October. I hope that these agreements will be confirmed during this meeting, and this will mean that about 70 percent of the required agreements for the peace treaty have been reached, '' Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.