ISTANBUL
Azerbaijan on Wednesday said a scheduled meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken early next month will create “new dividing lines” in the South Caucasus region.
The conference “creates new dividing lines and so-called spheres of influence in the region, instead of encouraging the Armenian side to negotiate in good faith,” Aykhan Hajizada, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in response to a media inquiry.
The actions taken by the EU and US “clearly have a one-sided and biased character” and are based on a “double standard approach,” Hajizada noted, saying the conference scheduled to take place in Brussels on April 5 is not fully transparent, lacks regional inclusivity, and runs contrary to the “promoted and much needed confidence-building and integrity in the region.”
Hajizada further said the “open pro-Armenian public manifestation” undertaken by Washington and Brussels may create an illusion in Armenia that the EU and US will support Yerevan in potential future provocations against Baku.
“In such (a) case, the EU and US will share responsibility for any possible destabilizing action by Armenia,” Hajizada also said, adding that Azerbaijan calls on all sides to refrain from taking steps that are counterproductive to peace talks and may escalate tensions.
Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that also opened the door to normalization.
Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after an “anti-terrorism operation” in September 2023, after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.
