A short video of the conversation released by Pashinian’s office showed the two men talking one-on-one in a conference hall lobby before being joined by their foreign ministers and aides. The office said they discussed an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty essentially finalized by the two sides in March.
“The parties discussed the current situation and emphasized the importance of continuing the process towards its signing,” it added in a statement.
Aliyev’s office and news agencies controlled by it did not immediately comment on the talks. Baku has repeatedly made clear that the signing of the treaty is first and foremost conditional a change of the Armenian constitution which it says contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan.
Pashinian denied the existence of such claims when he spoke to an Azerbaijani reporter in Tirana late on Thursday. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded the following morning by accusing him of “again trying to mislead the international community.” A ministry spokesman said the Armenian constitution “poses a direct threat to Azerbaijan's national security” and its change is a “fundamental condition for peace.”
While rejecting this precondition, Pashinian has pledged to try to enact a new constitution through a referendum expected in 2026. His political opponents have vowed to scuttle its adoption. They say that Pashinian’s appeasement policy only encourages Aliyev to demand more concessions from Yerevan.
The demands also include the opening of a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave which would pass through a key Armenian region. In January, Aliyev renewed his threats to open such a corridor by force.