In a short statement, the government’s press office said Pashinian will hold separate talks with Trump before a trilateral meeting of the three leaders “aimed at advancing peace, prosperity and economic cooperation in the region.” It did not say whether an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal could be signed or initialed as a result.
The Reuters news agency cited late on Tuesday an unnamed U.S. official as saying that the talks could lead to the announcement of “the framework for a peace agreement” between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The London-based news website Middle East Eye (MEE) reported earlier in the day that Aliyev and Pashinian are expected to sign a “memorandum of understanding” that will reaffirm their stated commitments to a peaceful settlement.
Baku and Yerevan finalized a bilateral peace treaty in March this year. The Azerbaijani side continues to make its signing conditional on a change of Armenia’s constitution. It does not seem to have dropped this precondition after Aliyev’s July 10 talks with Pashinian held in Abu Dhabi.
Hasmik Hakobian, an Armenian lawmaker affiliated with Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, said that it is still too early to say whether the upcoming talks in Washington will result in any document.
“There is no talk of the signing of some document,” Hakobian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday.
“We expect clear progress on both the peace treaty and U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership,” she said.
Trump may also discuss with Aliyev and Pashinian Azerbaijan’s demands for a land corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave that would pass through Armenia. The U.S. administration proposed earlier this year that the transit of people and cargo through Syunik be administered by a U.S. company. Following the Abu Dhabi talks, Pashinian signaled readiness to accept such an arrangement which might also involve a 100-year U.S. lease on the corridor.
Edmon Marukian, a former Pashinian ally leading the opposition Bright Armenia Party, speculated that Aliyev will push for the opening of the extraterritorial corridor at the upcoming summit.
“I can assume that in return for agreeing to go [to Washington] Aliyev wants to secure the American side’s support so that he can get his coveted ‘Zangezur Corridor,’” said Marukian.
Hakobian insisted in this regard that Yerevan will not agree to any transit deal that would call into question Armenia’s territorial integrity. Artur Khachatrian, a parliament deputy from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, dismissed these assurances.
“[Pashinian] is ready to give up everything to cling to power,” claimed Khachatrian.
Armenian opposition leaders maintain that outsourcing control over the transit routes for Azerbaijan to a U.S. entity would undermine Armenian sovereignty over Syunik and thereby serve Azerbaijan’s interests.