Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev’s recent statement that Azerbaijanis ‘expect an apology from the Armenian side’ ‘does not contribute’ to peace. Mirzoyan added that ‘there cannot be another precondition’ for signing the already initialled peace treaty. Armenia and Azerbaijan initialled the peace treaty in August 2025 in Washington, however it remains unsigned, with Azerbaijan demanding the change of Armenia constitution, claiming that it contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Mirzoyan made the remarks in response to a question from opposition Strong Armenia MP Tigran Abrahamyan in parliament. Abrahamyan noted that a day had passed since Hajiyev’s statement without a response from Armenian authorities and asked to what extent such rhetoric contributed to the peace process. Mirzoyan rejected the criticism over the lack of response, saying that the Armenian government ‘is building peace’ while being aware of the difficulties and obstacles along the way. He said the Armenian side was trying to consolidate peace and avoid returning to the logic of past confrontation. ‘The wheel always likes to follow its own groove. Even when great efforts are made to move it away from that groove, it’s easy, thump, the wheel just ends up falling back into its favourite groove’, Mirzoyan said. Mirzoyan went on to state that he could offer a ‘bombastic and patriotic’ response to Hajiyev, however added that with such logic they would end up in a ‘bad place’. Abrahamyan also raised concerns that the demand for an apology could become a second precondition for signing the initialled peace treaty. ‘I don’t think there can be another precondition’, Mirzoyan responded, without elaborating further. Instead, he went on to stress that the wounds of war remained fresh on both sides and that ‘societies need to reconcile’. ‘We need to end this conflict and enter a phase of peace and cooperation. We will benefit from that, and they will benefit from that’, Mirzoyan concluded. Azerbaijan expects Armenia ‘to apologise for ethnic cleansing’ The latest spat came after influential presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said he expects Armenia to apologise to the Azerbaijani people for what Baku describes as ethnic cleansing and the displacement of Azerbaijanis. Speaking at a special session titled , ‘The Language of Peace and Combating Disinformation’, held as part of the Baku Culture and Media Dialogue Platform on Monday, Hajiyev said Baku and Yerevan had agreed on a peace agenda, but recent statements from the Armenian side showed that differences remained between the two countries. ‘We are still concerned about manifestations of revanchism in Armenian society. At the same time, we see that Armenia’s current leadership is promoting the concept of “Real Armenia” . We take this into account and believe that Armenia should exist within its internationally recognised borders, rather than on the basis of certain historical interpretations that do not correspond to reality’, Hajiyev said. ‘Initial agreements on peace have already been reached. However, I am certain that every Azerbaijani, especially those who were expelled from their homes, spent 30 years as refugees or internally displaced persons, and were subjected to ethnic cleansing, expects an apology from Armenia’, he said. ‘Undoubtedly, this should be part of the broader process of building trust and establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan’. It’s not the first time Hajiyev has called on Armenia to apologise and accept responsibility for its actions during the conflict. In 2021, he said Armenia had no moral right to make claims after what he described as ‘unprecedented vandalism against the heritage and property of the Azerbaijani people’ and ‘ecocide’ in the territories occupied by Armenia. ‘Armenia must apologise to the Azerbaijani people and accept responsibility, just as the occupying states of the Second World War did’, Hajiyev said at the time.