Azerbaijani Ambassador to Brazil Rashad Novruz said Azerbaijan and Armenia are in their closest negotiations yet as they work toward lasting peace. (Foto: Instagram)
Azerbaijan and Armenia are continuing negotiations over a peace agreement signed in August 2025 with U.S. mediation, but the pact has not been ratified by either country’s legislature. Azerbaijani Ambassador to Brazil Rashad Novruz discussed the talks at an event in Brasília on Thursday, Nov. 5. He said negotiators are addressing issues including border demarcation and the reopening of regional routes that were cut off during years of conflict.
Novruz described the current moment as the “best window” for achieving lasting peace in the Caucasus. He said the two countries had never before held such close negotiations, with representatives from both sides engaged in discussions and dialogue. The agreement was reached with help from the administration of President Donald Trump, and subsequent talks have focused on resolving the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ethnic Armenians who lived there called Artsakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an autonomous region in the South Caucasus, within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory. It was historically populated by ethnic Armenians. The first conflict over the region erupted in the late 1980s, after Nagorno-Karabakh’s parliament voted to unite the area with Armenia. A Russian-mediated ceasefire was signed in 1994, after which ethnic Armenian forces controlled Nagorno-Karabakh.
A second war began in 2020, when Azerbaijan launched a military operation aimed at recovering territory it had lost in the 1990s. Artsakh was not fully retaken at that time. Three years later, Azerbaijani forces launched a surprise offensive to capture areas of the region that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians. The U.N. refugee agency said the episode led more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh, most of them seeking refuge in Armenia.
The peace agreement still requires approval by the legislatures of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. A key obstacle has been Azerbaijan’s demand that Armenia amend its constitution to rule out possible claims against Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has indicated that he is willing to accept the request, but procedural delays have prevented the matter from advancing in Armenia’s parliament.
Separately, Armenian lawmakers this week ratified an agreement to establish a transport connection across Armenia linking Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan, which lies within Armenian territory. The move is one of the developments taking place as the two countries continue negotiations, while the broader peace pact remains unratified.
