Azerbaijan and Armenia Leaders Express Hope for Resolving Disputes over Nagorno-Karabakh Region

The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, despite their disputes over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, are hopeful for a sustainable peace agreement. According to Reuters, Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, stated in an interview with Euronews: "If we see a constructive approach from Armenia and, most importantly, if they completely abandon all their aspirations to challenge our territorial integrity, we can find a peace solution soon, even by the end of the year." Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia, also spoke in Yerevan with a "cautious and hopeful" tone. Reuters reported that the Armenian Prime Minister, in a separate interview, said: "Peace is not only possible but necessary. This is my belief, but to achieve this goal, it is important for the international community to be adequately aware of the details and why this process is not progressing quickly enough." Pashinyan reiterated his accusations against Azerbaijan for obstructing the transit of goods through the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. However, Aliyev rejected these claims, stating that since the establishment of a border post at the entrance of this corridor in April, "more than 2000" residents of Karabakh have traveled to and from Armenia. Baku has rejected Yerevan's request for further security guarantees for the region's ethnic Armenians. Russia, the United States, and the European Union are separately working to ensure lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh has been a source of conflict between these two neighbors since the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and for over a century between Azerbaijanis and Armenians. In 2020, Baku regained control of areas that were under Armenian control, and since then, the only access road to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia has been periodically closed. This Armenian-populated area relies on Armenia for financial and military support and uses only this road. Since then, Armenia and Azerbaijan have disagreed over a peace treaty to agree on borders. The U.S. Secretary of State praised the honesty and clarity of Azerbaijan and Armenia in peace negotiations, expressed deep concern about the conditions of the people in Karabakh; American lawmakers issued a statement. Baku rejected Armenia's request for guarantees of rights for Armenians, temporarily blocked the Lachin border crossing, and accused Baku, Russia, and Armenia of not adhering to the ceasefire agreement in Karabakh.