Aliyev unlikely to visit Armenia until peace agreement is implemented
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has no plans to visit Armenia for the European Political Community (EPC) summit scheduled in Yerevan in May 2026, Caliber.Az reports, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
“The current level of bilateral relations does not yet allow President Aliyev’s visit to Yerevan to be considered a realistic step,” the website said.
“Azerbaijan is guided by the principle of concrete actions. A high-level visit without a signed agreement and without the launch of practical mechanisms could create a false impression that the process is complete. As long as the legal framework is not in place and commitments have not begun to be implemented, such steps would be premature,” News.Az quotes Caliber.Az as saying.
The report notes that future high-level visits are not ruled out. Once a peace agreement is signed and implementation begins, such visits would become a logical continuation of the process. “For now, practical steps are needed to fulfill previously agreed commitments, which will help secure peace not only de facto but also de jure,” it added.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan previously told journalists that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have been invited to attend the EPC summit in Yerevan next spring.
He added that the invitations have so far been extended verbally. Asked how Armenian society might respond to visits by the leaders of the two neighboring countries, Mirzoyan described the question as complex, given the long-standing history of hostility, and stressed that steps must be taken to establish good-neighborly relations.
“After all, at one time it was hard to imagine a visit by the Armenian prime minister to Ankara, but it happened,” Mirzoyan said. He added that while a visit by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Baku is still difficult to envision, the situation could change in a month and a half.
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