"The UN Security Council can be the guarantor of a peace agreement". Opinion from Yerevan
UN as guarantor of a peace treaty
The Armenian authorities have been talking for a long time about the need for international guarantees for the agreements to be enshrined in the peace agreement with Azerbaijan. “It is best if the document is approved and guaranteed by a UN Security Council resolution,” says Armenia’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmond Marukyan.
He said in his latest interview that Armenia does not consider any particular country a guarantor:
“And it’s not even possible. With the competition between the West and the Russian Federation in the South Caucasus, we cannot imagine that there can be a superpower that fully guarantees [the implementation of the agreement].”
“There isn’t one policeman in the world anymore”
According to Marukyan, it is the absence of a single force that would assume the role of guarantor that the Armenian authorities say it is necessary to introduce a mechanism. He believes that to achieve peace, the rules of a multipolar world dictate the need to introduce institutional mechanisms:
“If we can get the Security Council to adopt a resolution and approve the agreement, welcome it and take over the settlement of future disputes, making them a subject of discussion at the request of one of the parties, it will be a very big achievement.”
He says that for the last 20-25 years Azerbaijan “has built its policy exactly on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions, saying that there are resolutions, we are on the way to their realization”. The Ambassador believes that for this reason the international community “did not intervene in the actions of the Azerbaijani side in Nagorno-Karabakh”.
Disputes between the parties may be resolved in international courts
Talking about the role of institutional decisions, Marukyan emphasized that possible disputes between the parties can be resolved in international courts. The parties only have to agree that they will fulfill the court’s decision. And this point, in his opinion, can be fixed in the peace treaty.
But first of all, in the Ambassador’s opinion, Azerbaijan must show political will to sign the agreement. Otherwise, the peace process will remain at the level of statements.
What is preventing the signing of a peace treaty
Marukyan says that last year it was also mentioned that a document between Armenia and Azerbaijan could be signed by the end of the year, but it did not happen. Baku, according to him, only made statements suggesting to the international community that it is a constructive party, wants peace, is ready to work with Karabakh Armenians, guarantee their rights and security:
“And what happened after these statements? A blockade that lasted almost 10 months, hunger, ethnic cleansing, and on top of that – military actions, prisoners of war.”
He believes that the statements of the Azerbaijani side are propagandistic and have nothing to do with the actions taken. For this reason, “official Yerevan has always insisted on the introduction of a mechanism, the institution of guarantors, which will force the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken.”
“Baku wants process for the sake of process”
When asked what explains the decision to hold extraordinary presidential elections in Azerbaijan, Marukyan said two scenarios are possible:
- Azerbaijan is trying to use the victory on the battlefield, organize elections with the involvement of Nagorno-Karabakh and capitalize on its achievements,
- Aliyev is taking a time-out to avoid signing any document during this time and take advantage of the uncertain situation.
“I myself lean more towards the second scenario. Signing a peace agreement means certainty, it means conditions, it means rules. And if they don’t go for signing, it means they want uncertainty.”
Marukyan believes that Azerbaijan wants “process for the sake of process”. Taking advantage of this impression, Baku “opens many doors in the West under the guise of a constructive party and sells energy resources”. Marukyan says it is important to “inform Western partners that they should not have illusions about Baku, a country seeking peace does not arm itself on such a scale and at such a speed”.
“It’s unclear what the US is welcoming”
Edmond Marukyan also commented on the recent statement by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller that the States welcome Turkey’s effective role in the settlement of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia:
“To me, this is an unexpected and incomprehensible statement. The State Department could have welcomed Turkey’s positive involvement if it had opened the Armenian-Turkish border at least in the context of the agreements already reached, i.e. for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports. But this did not happen either.”
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UN as guarantor of a peace treaty
