Yerevan: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday proposed the signing of a peace deal with Azerbaijan and a document on dissolving the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group simultaneously. 'We understand the agenda put forward by Azerbaijan to disband the OSCE Minsk Group. Indeed, if we are closing the page on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and we are closing it, then why do we need a format that deals with its settlement?' Pashinyan said at a meeting of the country's National Assembly in the capital Yerevan.

According to Anadolu Agency, Pashinyan argued that the OSCE Minsk Group de facto has a broader context, and that Yerevan wants to ensure Baku does not perceive Armenia's step as one toward 'closing the conflict on its territory and transferring it to Armenia.' 'We propose concluding a peace agreement and simultaneously dissolving the OSCE Minsk Group. That is, signing both documents on the same day,' he stated. Azerbaijan has not immediately commented on Pashinyan's proposal.

The OSCE Minsk Group was established in 1992 and is chaired by France, Russia, and the US, with the aim of facilitating the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, along with seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which concluded with a Russian-brokered peace agreement that paved the way for normalization and demarcation talks. In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after separatist forces in the region surrendered. In March, Baku and Yerevan announced they had reached a consensus on a peace agreement, but both countries have since accused each other of cross-border attacks.