Azerbaijan is proposing to sign a document with Armenia on the basic principles of a future peace treaty as an interim measure as they wrangle over a broader deal, a senior Azerbaijani official said on Sunday.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly said they want to sign a peace treaty to end the conflict over the former breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia's foreign minister will travel to Washington on July 9-10 during the NATO summit, his ministry said on Monday, as the country, once a top Russian ally, seeks to build closer ties with the West.

"Minister (Ararat) Mirzoyan will take part in an event with NATO partners on the sidelines of the NATO summit, as well as in other events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the organisation. Bilateral meetings are also planned," a spokesperson for the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Armenia declared Friday that it was recognizing Palestinian statehood, prompting Israel to summon the country’s ambassador for a dressing down.

The Armenian foreign ministry said in a statement that Yerevan supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and is “genuinely committed to establishing peace and stability in the Middle East and lasting reconciliation.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that in response to the recognition, the ministry had summoned the Armenian ambassador, Arman Akopian, to be reprimanded.

When more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh last September, Nina Shahverdyan and her brother, parents and cousin spent 30 hours on the road trying to leave.

"People died of heart attacks. People died because they were just too old to live through that pain. Children were crying," she remembers.

In a matter of days Azerbaijan's military regained all the lands it had lost in a war triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister facing four days of protests against his decision to hand four villages to Azerbaijan, has urged Armenians to recognise that the way the issue is handled will determine the viability of the future peace process with its neighbour.

In an interview with British journalists in his office, Pashinyan, the leader of Armenia’s velvet revolution in 2018, said the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan “need to convert the theoretical peace agenda into an actual peaceful reality”.

The Kremlin has threatened Armenia with “negative consequences” after the EU pledged more than £230 million to help it loosen ties with Russia.

Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, visited Brussels on Friday, meeting Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, in a display of his country’s diplomatic shift towards the West.

The European Union has agreed on a landmark plan to help pull Armenia out of Russia’s orbit and support its economy in the face of growing tensions in the region.

It follows talks Friday in Brussels between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Russia's foreign minister accused Armenia, a former ally, of "distorting history" in an effort to "break off" relations with Moscow.

Armenia recently stepped up its criticism of Russia. Last month, it said it had "frozen our participation" in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is considered Russia's equivalent to NATO, and Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped it could rival the Western military alliance.