Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign in Washington on August 8 is not a peace agreement, but a memorandum of understanding, Middle East Eye reports, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Earlier, as Sputnik Armenia writes, a reporter on Caucasus issues in In Washington, Alex Raufoglu said that Baku and Yerevan is ready to announce its intention to conclude a peace agreement this week in Washington. According to him, on August 8, US President Donald Trump plans to receive the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, at the White House.
"Sources reported that US President Donald Trump will receive Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House at the signing ceremony," the Middle East Eye publication says.
Although Armenia and Azerbaijan reached consensus on the draft peace agreement in March, Baku continues to insist on several additional conditions before concluding the deal, including changing the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the newspaper recalls.
"As the sources noted, the two leaders are expected to sign a 'letter of intent,' rather than a draft peace agreement, which will provide Trump with the diplomatic achievement he has been seeking in the region since last month," the article says.
One of the main obstacles to the conclusion of a peace treaty remains the "Zangezur corridor" through the territory of Armenia.
In July, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack proposed that an American company lease and operate the corridor for 100 years in order to address the concerns of both sides about the safety and reliability of the transport route. However, Armenia rejected this proposal, stating that it would not lease the sovereign territory to any third country.
A regional source familiar with the negotiations told the publication that Turkey initially proposed the idea of creating a private company managing the corridor, which would be approved by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"However, the Armenian side demanded that the company work on the Nakhichevan side as well, which was unacceptable for Baku," the source explained.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks in Abu Dhabi on July 10. The meeting lasted about five hours. The Armenian Foreign Ministry called the meeting Pashinyan and Aliyev's visit to Abu Dhabi was successful and confirmed that it could become a serious basis for the peace process.