US President Joe Biden has encouraged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to finalise a peace agreement with Armenia before the end of 2024. Biden also emphasised his personal commitment to achieving this goal, while referencing the ‘steps’ the US was willing to take. 

In a letter hand-delivered to Aliyev on Monday, Biden highlighted what he called the ‘steady progress’ Azerbaijan and Armenia had made towards finalising a peace agreement which would normalise relations between the two countries.

Noting that compromises and creativity were needed, Biden emphasised his commitment to supporting the peace agreement and encouraged Aliyev to finalise such an agreement this year. 

‘I want to assure you that the United States stands ready to support a durable and dignified peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia that would finally put to rest centuries of conflict’, Biden said. 

He also referenced the COP29 UN climate summit scheduled to take place in Baku in November, calling it a ‘unique opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to peace in front of a global audience’. 

‘A peace agreement would not only ensure Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it would transform the entire region — paving the way for increased trade, investment, and connectivity between Europe and Central Asia’, he added.

Biden ended the letter by stating that he had asked his Senior Director for Europe at the National Security Council, Michael Carpenter, to brief Aliyev on ‘some of the steps we would be willing to take and also to get your feedback on discussions with Armenia’.

After presenting the letter to Aliyev on Monday, Carpenter separately highlighted US support for a swift signing of the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, affirming that the US was firmly committed to advancing this process. 

Obstacles to peace

In response to the letter and the meeting with Carpenter, Aliyev blamed Armenia for an agreement having not yet been signed. He reiterated that Armenia’s ‘territorial claims’ against Azerbaijan were a key obstacle to finalising the peace agreement. 

Following his meeting with Aliyev, Carpenter met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. According to Azerbaijani pro-government media, the two further discussed the normalisation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the importance of increasing efforts to create a positive dynamic in bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the US.

Bayramov also claimed that ‘the most serious obstacle to signing a final peace agreement is the continuation of territorial claims against Azerbaijan in a number of legal and political documents of this country, especially in the Constitution of Armenia’. 

Azerbaijan has frequently stated that Armenia’s constitution contains territorial claims, referring to the declaration of independence which is featured in its preamble. The declaration itself includes a joint decision by the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Karabakh Council to ‘reunify the Armenian SSR and the Mountainous Region of Karabakh’.

Previously, on 18 October, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the 3+3 format session held in Istanbul, during which they continued negotiations on a peace agreement. 

Mirzoyan and Bayramov also met at the end of September in New York at the initiative of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The parties agreed to put additional efforts towards the conclusion of the peace agreement and establish interstate relations ‘in the shortest possible period’.

Following that meeting, the US State department reported that Blinken ‘encouraged continued progress by both countries to finalise an agreement as soon as possible’.

Armenia has been offering to sign an interim peace treaty based on articles it agreed on with Azerbaijan since late August. Azerbaijan has refused Armenia’s offer, despite similarly proposing to do so earlier this year.

[Read more: Peace talks flounder as Armenia pushes for deal with Azerbaijan before COP29]