Azerbaijan again expands demands in talks with Armenia, analyst warns

Azerbaijan is expanding its official demands in negotiations with Armenia, using the peace process as a tool of pressure rather than pursuing a stable settlement, political analyst Suren Surenyants warns.

His comments followed recent remarks by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who said that the conclusion of a peace agreement would require not only a change of Armenia’s constitution, but also the full implementation of commitments under the TRIPP infrastructure project.

“Baku’s true approach to the peace process is once again becoming clear,” Surenyants wrote on Telegram on Friday. “Azerbaijan’s official demands are being expanded yet again.”

According to Surenyants, the long-standing demand for constitutional changes has now been paired with an infrastructure requirement, which he says is being presented “not as an opportunity for cooperation, but as a new precondition”.

“This indicates that peace is not an objective for Baku, but a pressure instrument used step by step,” he said.

Surenyants stated the inclusion of TRIPP among the conditions for a peace deal showed that Azerbaijan was seeking to control not only the technical aspects of reopening regional communications, but also their legal and security frameworks.

“Thus, Armenia’s capacity for sovereign decision-making and its status as an equal negotiating party are being called into question,” he said.

He warned that tying constitutional changes to infrastructure obligations creates a “dangerous logic”, in which each concession becomes the basis for further demands.

“As the victorious side in the 2020–2023 wars, Azerbaijan is in no hurry to establish institutional peace,” Surenyants said. “The current situation allows Baku to maintain pressure and extract additional concessions without offering reciprocal guarantees.”

As a result, he argued, the signing of a peace agreement is continually delayed, while negotiations are transformed into “a mechanism for generating new conditions.”

“Baku is not seeking institutional and sustainable peace at this stage,” Surenyants said. “Its aim is to keep Armenia in a state of permanent concessions, where peace is not an endpoint, but a constantly receding horizon.”