Why does Aliyev avoid meeting with Pashinyan? the analyst presented the reasons

Why does Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev avoid meeting with RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan? Analyst Armen Petrosyan stated in a conversation with "Armenpress" that three circumstances should be taken into account in case of such behavior of the President of Azerbaijan.

"The first is that the authorities of Azerbaijan want in every possible way to exclude negotiations with the Armenian side in any mediation format, preferring direct negotiations with Armenia. The mediation of Western platforms is excluded, because the Azerbaijani side in the context of its extremist policy has clear plans, the role of Western mediators in particular will be a significant obstacle in the way of their implementation, because previously there were commitments made by the President of Azerbaijan on Western platforms, which the Azerbaijani side did not fulfill. Petrosyan mentioned.

As an example, the analyst cited Ilham Aliyev's refusal to meet with Nikol Pashinyan in Granada in 2023 and the non-fulfillment of pre-arranged agreements related to the issue of unblocking regional channels.

"The two sides undertook the obligation to lift the embargo based on the four well-known principles, mutual jurisdiction. In that context, in the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, the Azerbaijani side again returned to the so-called "Zangezur Corridor" speech and began to advance the de-blockade with the logic of unimpeded passage. The Azerbaijani side also had obligations towards the Armenians of Artsakh, which they did not fulfill. First of all, this is the reason why Azerbaijan avoids negotiations in mediation format. Aliyev has already acquired the reputation of an irresponsible negotiator, and such new possible developments will deepen the negative attitude towards him," explained our interlocutor.

According to Petrosyan, the second circumstance is the desire to conduct bilateral, direct negotiations with Armenia, where the Azerbaijani side sees more opportunities to extract more from Armenia, while such a thing cannot be done if meetings are organized in a mediation format, with the involvement of mediators.

"And the third circumstance is that at the moment Azerbaijan is not inclined to sign a peace agreement. Under the current conditions, the Azerbaijani side sees that Armenia still has opportunities to maneuver, and not all of Azerbaijan's demands are implemented. That is why official Baku is delaying the signing of the peace agreement, creating artificial obstacles. As an example, he puts forward demands to change the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, to dissolve the format of the OSCE Minsk Group together with the Armenian side. But these are issues that have a tenth importance in bilateral relations, although their solution requires a long time interval. Baku pushed those issues to the fore because it does not want to go to the signing of the peace treaty," commented Petrosyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan strives to implement the processes of unblocking, demarcation and demarcation exclusively from the point of view of its interests, without a fixed legal documentary basis and maps. For the Azerbaijani side, as a derivative problem, it is also the exclusion of the return of Artsakh Armenians, to which the so-called "Western Azerbaijan" discourse is promoted as a counterweight.

Referring to the observation that on the one hand Aliyev avoids meetings with Pashinyan, while on the other hand various high-ranking Azerbaijani figures assure that the signing of the peace treaty is possible in a short period of time, Petrosyan emphasized that this is diplomatic talk, which is a common phenomenon in such a situation.

"The Azerbaijanis want to show that they are very inclined to ratify this agreement, they do not see any obstacles, the rest of the issues are easy to solve, but this is a clear tactic, the purpose of which is to create a positive mood in the eyes of the international community towards their policy. The problem, in fact, is to hide their most pious ambitions, to not see the continuity of the series of constantly voiced demands against Armenia, or to divert attention from those demands. "Azerbaijan consistently advances that line at the political and propaganda levels," concluded the analyst.