Yerevan: Azerbaijan and Armenia announced on Thursday that they have completed negotiations on a long-awaited peace treaty aimed at ending decades of conflict. Both sides confirmed that they have agreed on a draft text and are ready to move forward with signing the agreement.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, with the latest full-scale conflict occurring in 2020. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a rapid 24-hour military operation and fully regained control of the region.
Previous attempts at peace talks had repeatedly stalled over disagreements on the treaty's terms. However, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters that negotiations over the draft text were now "fully completed." He added that Armenia had accepted Azerbaijan’s proposals on two previously unresolved articles.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed the development, stating, "The negotiations on the treaty’s draft have been finalized... Armenia is ready to sign the peace agreement."
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the event a "significant development" and said his country is prepared to discuss the time and place for signing the treaty. "This draft represents what a real peace treaty should look like," he told journalists.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the announcement, writing on social media: "There are no more obstacles to signing the peace treaty... This should pave the way for lasting peace in the South Caucasus."
Despite the breakthrough, Azerbaijan criticized Armenia for issuing a unilateral statement instead of coordinating a joint declaration.
The move marks a historic shift, as Armenia has now formally recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh following three decades of ethnic Armenian separatist rule. Last year, Armenia also returned four villages it had captured in previous conflicts.
After Azerbaijan’s takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the region. Nagorno-Karabakh had functioned as a self-declared but unrecognized independent state since 1994, with neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia granting it official recognition.
The conflict has also drawn in global powers. Turkey has consistently backed Azerbaijan, while Russia has maintained strong military and political ties with Armenia, including operating a military base in the country.
The last major war between the two nations lasted six weeks in 2020, resulting in the deaths of approximately 6,500 soldiers on both sides. A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting, and 2,000 Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region.
With the peace treaty draft now finalized, both countries are expected to take the next steps toward a formal agreement that could bring lasting stability to the region.
