Islamabad : Monitoring Desk – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday that “peace has been established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan” following the initialing of a peace agreement in Washington on August 8 under the auspices of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a televised address on 19 Aug 2025, he linked this new stage to his earlier position that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue had to be closed in order for peace to be possible.
“I have led Armenia with the logic of not continuing the Karabakh movement, and if the people disagreed with this logic, I called on them to make a revolution. You, dear citizens, did not make a revolution, because you understood like me that without closing the Karabakh issue, peace is impossible,” Pashinyan said.
He acknowledged the pain of displaced Armenians from Karabakh but said their future lies in Armenia. “Our compatriots, with our and the international community’s support, must settle in the Republic of Armenia and live here as full citizens,” he said.
Pashinyan made clear that Armenia is not pursuing the return of the displaced Karabakh Armenians to their homes.
Pashinyan described the peace as a fragile achievement. “Since our independence, we have lived in an atmosphere of conflict, in conditions of war or ‘neither war nor peace.’ Peace is an unfamiliar feeling for us, but from now on we must learn what it means to live peacefully,” he said.
He compared it to something that must be cared for daily: “The peace established requires daily care and attention, like a newborn child, like a new home, like a beloved new car”.
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The prime minister addressed concerns that the agreement did not explicitly mention Armenian captives in Azerbaijan.
“Including this issue in the text could be interpreted as meaning their return would be a matter after signing and ratifying the agreement, and we could not proceed with such a presumption. Since the launch of negotiations, 58 of our compatriots have returned from captivity, and if the matter had been left to the peace agreement, this might not have happened at all,” he explained.
According to official data, 23 Armenians remain in Azerbaijani captivity, among them former military and political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. They face grave charges in an ongoing trial in Baku.
Pashinyan also underlined that both sides had recognized each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, making border delimitation essential.
“This means that in the sections of restoration and construction of communication channels, first of all the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be clarified, delimited and demarcated. And the border already has its obligatory attributes: border guards, customs points, and so on,” he said.
In this context, Pashinyan noted that each side controls portions of the other’s territory.
“When we say that there are sovereign territories of Armenia today under Azerbaijani control, we must also say that there are sovereign territories of Azerbaijan under our control, and this reciprocal issue must be resolved through the delimitation process,” he said.
He praised Trump’s role in brokering the accord. “In this endeavor, of course, the role of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration is invaluable. This is why, together with the President of Azerbaijan, we decided to submit a joint application to the Nobel International Committee to award Mr. Trump the Nobel Peace Prize,” Pashinyan said.
However, observers caution that Pashinyan’s assertion that “peace has been established” is more about the campaign ahead of Armenia’s June 2026 parliamentary elections than about reality. They stress that the initialing of a peace treaty is far from the actual establishment of lasting peace.
Pashinyan urged Armenians to adapt to the new circumstances. “This is new life, and we must live this new life in a new way,” he said.
