Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, in an interview with Al Jazeera, complained that Azerbaijan is hindering a peace deal with Yerevan by refraining from referencing the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration that recognized the international borders of post-Soviet states.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, last week, claimed Armenia and Azerbaijan had certified the recognition of each other’s territorial integrity.

“The problem is that despite the fact that our leaders have numerous times reconfirmed the mutual recognition of territorial integrity based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, which I just mentioned, we see that our neighbors are still reluctant to make concrete and strong reference to the Alma-Ata Declaration in the draft of the peace treaty, a more comprehensive document which is going to be signed by the two countries,” Mirzoyan told Al Jazeera.

Mirzoyan also cited the unblocking of regional transport links based on each other’s sovereignty as another stumbling block to a peace deal.

When asked to clarify Armenia’s position on the war in Gaza, Mirzoyan said Yerevan strongly opposes the targeting of civilians and referenced the thousands of Armenians forced to flee Artsakh.

He said Yerevan is lobbying for a peaceful settlement of the hostilities and is ready to facilitate such steps.