Pope welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal signing

PanARMENIAN.Net - During Sunday’s Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV urged world leaders to take responsibility for resolving conflicts, expressing support for the initial signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement.

War, he stressed, must be rejected as “a means of resolving disputes,” Vatican News reported.

Following the prayer, the Pope called on the international community and leaders to actively work toward peace, urging the faithful never to cease praying for it.

“Let us continue to pray for the end of all wars,” the Pope said.

On August 8, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an agreement Pope Leo described as a sign of hope. He noted that their joint declaration marked significant progress and that “we all hope it will contribute to lasting and stable peace in the South Caucasus.”

On August 8 at the White House, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a joint Declaration on the results of the Washington meeting.

In Washington, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in the presence of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the United States, initialed the “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”