Orientalist: Azerbaijan not interested in peace treaty until it gains  additional benefits 

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan has received two documents from Armenia - the Washington Agreement and the November 9 trilateral statement - guaranteeing unimpeded  communication with its exclave of Nakhichevan, as stated by Sergey  Melkonyan, an orientalist and history PHD, during a lecture in  Yerevan dedicated to recent events in the region.

Specifically, the expert touched on the peace treaty and called for  consideration of three aspects of the negotiation process: the peace  treaty, the unblocking of communications, and the  border  delimitation and demarcation. According to Melkonyan, all of these,   were laid out following the 44-day war of 2020.  Regarding the first  aspect, the expert recalled that Armenia and Azerbaijan finalized  consultations on the peace treaty text in March 2025. However, he  noted that after the meeting in Washington, the peace treaty was only  initialed, not signed. 

As Melkonyan clarified in this regard, many more steps must be taken  before the treaty can be signed.  Specifically, the treaty's  constitutionality must be verified, its ratification by the country's  parliament, the presidential signature, and so on. "Meanwhile,  Armenia and Azerbaijan have made no progress on any of these points.  Essentially, they haven't moved forward. They haven't even begun to  implement  the first stage of signing the peace treaty," Melkonyan  noted.

Touching on the second aspect of the negotiation process, namely,  unblocking communications, the expert mentioned that the parties  haven't yet reached a final conclusion. There is  no comprehensive  agreement on this issue, except for the agreement reached in  Washington regarding the Trump route. "As for border delimitation and  demarcation, this negotiation track could last for decades, as we're  talking about difficult mountainous and sometimes forested terrain,"  the expert noted.

Considering this, the expert further also took into account what each  side gained from the Washington meeting and the initialing of the  peace treaty. In terms of Azerbaijan, Melkonyan noted that this  included the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, mandated to resolve  the Karabakh conflict; the repeal of Section 907, which was passed  with the assistance of the Armenian lobby in the United States and  prohibits the US from providing military assistance to Azerbaijan and  establishing a strategic partnership with them; and Azerbaijan's  unimpeded access to its exclave of Nakhichevan. 

"As for Armenia, it has received a reduction in the risk of  escalation, meaning the country has gained a year. This includes a  partial normalization of relations with Turkey. However,  Armenia was  unable to change the modalities of negotiations with the Turkish side  regarding  the reopening the road that was closed in April 1993.  Furthermore, the country received a new formula for the road, namely,  the Trump route. And another benefit is the assurance of a peace  agenda before the 2026 elections," Melkonyan listed.  However, the  expert also touched on the vestiges of the conflict, including the  occupation of 220 square kilometers of Armenian territory, prisoners  of war  in Baku, the absence of processes for implementing the right  of return to Artsakh, and Azerbaijan's territorial claims. "Regarding  the first issue, that is, the occupation of Armenian territories, it  is also important to note that Azerbaijan holds a dominant position  in along the entire eastern line of contact. This means the imbalance  is quite serious," Melkonyan noted.

Regarding the peace treaty, the expert also noted that Azerbaijan  initially has set a demand that is virtually impossible to fulfill.  He referred to the Armenian Constitution. The expert noted that  constitutional amendments can only be made through a referendum, and   the majority of the population is currently opposed to such a  requirement. "Essentially, Azerbaijan has created an obstacle that  will prevent the signing of a peace treaty. It's clear that  Azerbaijan isn't even pursuing this, as the treaty isn't beneficial  to them. They have already received two documents from Armenia-the  Washington Agreement and the November 9 trilateral  statement-guaranteeing unimpeded communication with its exclave of  Nakhichevan. A peace treaty isn't of interest to Azerbaijan until  they receives additional benefits from it," Melkonyan concluded.