Yerevan: Azerbaijan’s president said on Sunday that his country was ready to hold talks with Armenia on a prospective peace treaty after reclaiming the breakaway Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that Georgia would be a preferable venue for the negotiations.
President Ilham Aliyev made the statement on a visit to Georgia after snubbing a planned meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of a European summit in Granada, Spain, on Thursday that the EU has tried to broker.
A day earlier, Aliyev scathingly criticized France for promising to supply Armenia with weapons, telling President of the European Council Charles Michel in Saturday’s phone call that he didn’t attend the meeting in Granada because of France’s position, the Azerbaijani leader’s office said.
Aliyev noted that “the provision of weapons by France to Armenia was an approach that was not serving peace, but one intended to inflate a new conflict, and if any new conflict occurs in the region, France would be responsible for causing it,” according to a readout of the call issued by his office.
In a 24-hour campaign that began September 19, Azerbaijan reclaimed control over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after three decades of separatist rule, forcing the undermanned and outgunned Armenian forces to capitulate.
The separatist government agreed to disband itself by the end of the year, but Azerbaijani authorities immediately moved to reassert control of the region and arrested several top former separatist officials.
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s talks in Tbilisi with Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Aliyev said he was grateful to Georgia for its mediation efforts, adding that Azerbaijan will be ready to attend the talks to discuss issues related to a peace treaty if Armenia agrees.
“Several countries and some international organizations are trying to support the process of normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said. “We welcome any mediation and assistance if it’s not one-sided and biased.” He emphasized that Georgia, which borders Armenia and Azerbaijan, would be the best host for prospective peace treaty talks.