No War, Just Peace: Pashinyan Lays Out His Government’s Clear Message to Azerbaijan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stood at the podium of the Armenian National Assembly on Tuesday and delivered a speech outlining his government’s stance on peace with Azerbaijan, the security of the Armenian people, and the future of its armed forces. Speaking during the presentation of the government’s 2024 performance report, he made a firm call for peace, denied territorial ambitions, and urged Azerbaijan to stop delaying the final signing of a historic peace agreement.

Here’s a breakdown of the key points made by Armenia’s leader in clear and simple terms:

1. Peace and Security Go Hand in Hand

Prime Minister Pashinyan began by stating that peace is just as important as bread—something everyone needs to survive. He said Armenia’s true path to safety and stability lies in peace, not war. He announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan have completed negotiations on a peace and interstate relations agreement. The draft is finalized, and he is ready to sign it on behalf of the Armenian people.

But Azerbaijan, he said, has made two demands before signing:

Dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group (which was set up to handle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict).
Amend Armenia’s constitution, which Baku claims contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

2. Simultaneous Signing of Peace Treaty and OSCE Minsk Group Petition

To address the first demand, Pashinyan said that Armenia is willing to dissolve the Minsk Group together with Azerbaijan. He explained that if both sides are ready to “close the Nagorno-Karabakh page,” then there is no point in keeping the group alive.

However, Armenia wants to make sure that dissolving the Minsk Group does not mean accepting that the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is now on Armenia’s sovereign land. To avoid misunderstandings, Pashinyan proposed a practical solution: both countries should sign the peace agreement and the petition to dissolve the Minsk Group at the same time, in the same place. This proposal is now official, he said.

3. Armenia’s Constitution Does Not Claim Azerbaijani Land

Regarding the second demand, Pashinyan clarified that Azerbaijan believes Armenia’s constitution includes territorial claims because it mentions a 1990 declaration of independence, which itself refers to a 1989 act unifying Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

But, Pashinyan explained, Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled in September 2024 that there are no territorial claims to Azerbaijan or any other country in the constitution.

In fact, he noted, it is Azerbaijan’s constitution that includes territorial claims to Armenia, but Yerevan does not make that an obstacle.

More importantly, Pashinyan pointed to a specific part of the peace treaty draft where both countries agree:

They have no territorial claims to one another.
They will never make such claims in the future.
They both accept each other’s borders based on the Soviet-era boundaries mentioned in the 1991 Almaty Declaration.

4. Signing the Treaty Is the Solution, Not Avoiding It

Pashinyan urged all parties to treat Azerbaijan’s concerns as genuine—not as an excuse to delay the treaty. Still, he made it clear that signing the peace treaty is the best way to solve the problem, not avoiding it.

He said that Armenia’s constitution already allows for international treaties, once ratified, to override any other articles. That means the peace treaty would have more legal power than any conflicting part of the constitution, making Azerbaijan’s concern irrelevant.

He accused Azerbaijan of delaying the agreement on purpose, even though both countries had already finalized the draft in March. Experts, he said, also believe that Baku is just trying to buy time.

5. “There Will Be No War, There Will Be Peace”

Despite ongoing border tensions, Prime Minister Pashinyan declared that Armenia remains fully committed to peace.

He criticized the “daily propaganda for war,” coming from some forces inside and outside Armenia. He also called out Azerbaijan for constantly accusing Armenia of ceasefire violations, while itself violating the ceasefire almost every day. For example, Azerbaijani forces recently fired shots near the Armenian village of Khnatsakh.

Pashinyan insisted these shootings are either:

A sign of chaos inside Azerbaijan’s army, or
A way to scare Armenian villagers living near the border.

Either way, he demanded that Azerbaijan investigate and stop these actions. He also said Armenia is willing to investigate any claims of its own ceasefire violations and repeated his proposal: Let’s create a daily joint investigation team for all border incidents.

6. Army Reforms Focused on Defense, Not Attack

The prime minister addressed concerns about Armenia’s military modernization, which some have portrayed as aggressive.

He clarified that Armenia’s army will never have a task outside Armenia’s sovereign, internationally recognized borders. This includes areas that are currently occupied by Azerbaijan. Pashinyan said those territorial issues will be resolved peacefully, through border commissions that are already set up and accepted by both countries.

He stressed that the Armenian army is essential for the state but that peace is the most powerful tool for national security—not just weapons or troops.

7. Ready to Investigate Every Border Incident Together

Pashinyan took a direct approach to border shootings. He proposed an on-the-spot investigation mechanism where Armenian and Azerbaijani officials can visit shooting sites on the same day, even checking whether a gun’s barrel is still hot to see if it was recently fired.

He asked, “If Azerbaijan is not guilty, why won’t they agree to this?”

He criticized those—both in Armenia and abroad—who falsely claim that Armenia is the one escalating the conflict. If that were true, he said, Azerbaijan would have agreed to joint investigations long ago.

Pashinyan also warned Armenian opposition figures not to unknowingly help that narrative by spreading misinformation or panic.

Final Appeal for Peace

In closing, Pashinyan firmly stated that the peace treaty would not only resolve territorial questions but become the highest legal document in Armenia after it is ratified. He called on Azerbaijan to stop creating roadblocks.

He also warned against viewing peace as weakness. While some believe that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev wants to delay the agreement until he forces more concessions.

“The peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan deserve peace and peaceful coexistence. There will be no war. There will be peace,” he declared.

Whether or not Azerbaijan agrees to his proposals remains to be seen. But the Armenian government has now officially put forward a serious offer: sign the peace agreement and dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group—together, at the same time.

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