Armenian PM says another War with Azerbaijan 'likely' unless Peace Treaty is signed
Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian says a fresh war with Azerbaijan remains a high probability in the absence of a peace treaty between the two countries, RFE reports.
"So long as a peace treaty has not been signed and such a treaty has not been ratified by the parliaments of the two countries, of course, a [new] war [with Azerbaijan] is very likely," Pashinian said in an interview with AFP published on July 21.
Baku and Yerevan have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated mountainous enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The most recent war lasted six weeks in late 2020 and left 7,000 soldiers dead on both sides.
As a result of the war, Azerbaijan regained control over a part of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. The war ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to serve as peacekeepers.
Armenia and Azerbaijan in recent weeks have engaged in rounds of diplomacy aimed at reaching a lasting peace deal but there have been sporadic border clashes, and the talks have not yet yielded a breakthrough.
Tensions have remained high over the situation on the Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan earlier this month suspended traffic through a checkpoint on the corridor pending an investigation after it said "various types of contraband" had been discovered in Red Cross vehicles coming from Armenia.
The suspension of traffic heightened concerns over a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Armenia and separatist authorities in the enclave have said that Azerbaijan has blockaded the territory since December, resulting in shortages of food, medicines, and energy. Pashinian sharply criticized the blockade in the interview with AFP, saying it amounted to "an ongoing process of genocide" for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, meanwhile, said Azerbaijan is making serious efforts to remove land mines, more than 1 million of which are buried in the territories of Azerbaijan, while also criticizing a map provided by Armenia that covers approximately 400,000 mines.
