Lilit Makunts: Armenia will only withdraw its lawsuits against Azerbaijan once the peace treaty is finally signed
- Published
- Place
- National Assembly, Yerevan, Armenia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Lilit Makunts, said on 3 November that Armenia would only withdraw its international claims against Azerbaijan once the peace treaty has been finally signed. She was speaking before the National Assembly’s standing committees, meeting jointly to examine the draft 2027 budget. “Armenia will never give up defending its interests in any international body,” she said. The text of the peace agreement, initialled by Yerevan and Baku, provides that both countries withdraw all their interstate claims within a month of its entry into force, and do not later join claims brought by others. In recent years the two neighbours have launched several cases against each other before international courts.
Analysis
This stance follows the line set out by Nikol Pashinyan as early as November 2024: dropping the claims is part of the treaty bargain, not a step to take beforehand. For the government, abandoning the cases earlier would mean giving up leverage with no guarantee in return. As long as the agreement is neither signed nor in force, the cases stay open. And the signing also depends on Armenia’s new Constitution, which Baku has set as a condition.
Possible consequences
International proceedings between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain open until the peace treaty enters into force.
