On May 17, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan seemed to confirm that he had agreed to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh during the talks over the weekend with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, held in Brussels. 

“Three days ago, with the mediation of European Council President Charles Michel, we made a step further, emphasizing that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territory of 86,600 square kilometers and Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s territory of 29,800 square kilometers,” Pashinyan said in a speech delivered within the framework of the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe in Iceland.

Speaking in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, Pashinyan also denounced Azerbaijan’s five-month blockade of Karabakh’s sole land link with Armenia. At the same time, he called for the start of “Baku-Stepanakert negotiations aimed at providing security and human rights for the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh under an international mechanism.”

Leaders and heads of delegations from more than four dozen countries were present at the event. Following the summit, Pashinyan participated in the round-table discussion on the topic of democracy, the PM press service reports. 

Within the event framework, Pashinyan had short meetings with the leaders of France, Germany, Latvia, Georgia, Poland, Malta, Luxembourg, and Romania. The issues related to the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region and the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed. 

Pashinyan also met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Kox. The sides discussed the ongoing democratic reforms implemented in Armenia and the plans to advance further in that direction.

Read also: Armenian Opposition Slams Pashinyan Over Recent Tripartite Talks in Brussels

Charles Michel on the Results of Talks Between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Brussels