U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the two South Caucasus nations the day after they announced that they have bridged their remaining differences on the text of the draft treaty.
“This is an opportunity for both countries to turn the page on a decades-old conflict in line with President Trump’s vision for a more peaceful world,” Rubio said in a statement. “Now is the time to commit to peace, sign and ratify the treaty, and usher in a new era of prosperity for the people of the South Caucasus.”
Antonio Costa, the president of the EU’s decision-making Council, also hailed the “decisive step towards the full normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the opening of the region.”
“I now encourage you to move forward with a swift signature of the peace agreement,” Costa wrote on X, appealing to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
In a separate statement, the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, praised Armenia for “paving the way for the finalization of the text.” Germany’s outgoing Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was more specific in this regard, saying that the breakthrough was made possible by Yerevan’s “courageous concessions” to Baku.
The Armenian government acknowledged on Thursday that it accepted Azerbaijani proposals regarding two of the 17 articles of the draft treaty that had not yet been agreed upon. It did not say what concessions, if any, the Azerbaijani side made for its part.
Even after the announced agreement, Baku continued to make the signing of the treaty conditional on a change of Armenia’s constitution. It has also set other conditions for ending the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Neither the U.S. nor the EU has publicly commented on the Azerbaijani demands so far.
