Azerbaijan, Armenia share text of initialed peace deal

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan and Armenia on Monday shared the text of the peace agreement they initialed Friday amid a trilateral summit with the US in Washington, DC.

According to the 17-point document shared by their foreign ministries, both countries recognized the borders of the Azerbaijani and Armenian republics in the former Soviet Union as the boundary between the two states.

Both Baku and Yerevan confirmed that they do not have any territorial claims against one another and will not raise such claims in the future, the document noted.

It said that the two sides will refrain from using or threatening to use force against each other’s territorial integrity or political independence, and from interfering in each other's internal affairs.

It further said that both countries will establish diplomatic ties once they exchange “instruments of ratification,” and conduct negotiations to delimit and demarcate their border.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed not to deploy any third-party forces along their border, it added.

The document also said both countries agreed to establish a bilateral commission to oversee the implementation of the peace deal, and withdraw mutual claims in international courts within a month after the deal enters into force, among other matters.

“The present Agreement is concluded in the Azerbaijani, Armenian, and English languages, with all three texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence as to the meaning of a provision under any of the authentic texts, the English text shall prevail,” it noted.

The deal will enter into force "after the exchange of instruments notifying about the completion of the internal procedures in line with the national legislations of the Parties," it added.

The Azerbaijani side separately noted in a corresponding statement that a draft decision by the OSCE Ministerial Council on the closure of the OSCE Minsk Group was circulated among its member states on Monday, where it said, they have been called for "the support of necessary procedures with the view of its adoption."

The peace agreement between the two countries was initialed on Friday by their foreign ministers amid a trilateral summit between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, US President Donald Trump, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a series of cross-border wars since the late 1980s, including most recently in 2023, when Azerbaijan liberated its territory of Karabakh.