Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Simonyan says ‘no deadlock’ in peace talks with Azerbaijan

Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan has revealed that he had a ‘short private conversation’ in Saint Petersburg, Russia with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Sahiba Gafarova, adding that ‘there can be no talk of any deadlock’ in the peace talks with Azerbaijan.

Simonyan made the remarks on Tuesday in response to a reporter’s question about whether the peace negotiations were at a deadlock.

‘I think that there can be no talk of any deadlock. It is also beneficial for the Azerbaijani side to complete the process, which we are engaged in, as quickly as possible’, he said.

‘We have to do everything for our agenda of peace to become reality.’

According to Armenpress, Simonyan and Gafarova both attended an Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on 17 April.

There were no reports of their meeting at the time.

On Tuesday, Simonyan also commented on reports of Azerbaijani fire towards Armenian towns.

Over the last month, there have been numerous reports from Armenia’s border villages of shootings from the Azerbaijani side, particularly at night. In response, the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) recently announced an increase in the number of night patrols along the Armenian side of the Armenia–Azerbaijan border.

According to Armenpress, Simonyan said that the authorities in Armenia were ‘focused on the issue and were drawing conclusions’, but stressed that Yerevan’s goal was to ‘advance the agenda of peace’.

Most recently, Armenia’s Defence Ministry accused the Azerbaijani Armed Forces of opening fire in the direction of the village of Khoznavar in the Syunik province on the night of 20–21 April. They said that the attack inflicted damage on a solar water heater installed on the roof of a residential building.

On Tuesday, the EUMA posted on X that they had conducted ‘27 day and night patrols’ in its area of operation over the Easter weekend.

They additionally noted that their patrols observed in Khoznavar the impact of two shots damaging civilian infrastructure, ‘possibly originating from an [Azerbaijani] position in the area’.

Armenia says Azerbaijani fire caused damage in border village

This is the third time Armenia has shared photo evidence of damage in border villages as a result of Azerbaijani fire since the end of March.

OC MediaXandie (Alexandra) Kuenning