ArmInfo. Not a single government official of Armenia has the right to negotiate the surrender of this or that village, this or that territory. RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated on March 15 during a hearing in the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relation, at which the implementation of the RA government program was discussed, opposing MP from the "Armenia" opposition faction Kristina Vardanyan.
The MP, in particular, raised the question of the authorities' intentions to hand over four villages in the Tavush region of Armenia to Azerbaijan. In addition, the parliamentarian asked the minister why it was necessary to ratify the Rome Statute if today the authorities are talking about the possibility of withdrawing claims in international courts.
In response, Mirzoyan noted that there is no official in Armenia who would negotiate with Azerbaijan on the issue of transferring villages. As the head of the RA Foreign Ministry emphasized this is an axiom that does not require proof. The guarantee of this, the minister continued, is legal mechanisms. "We are not negotiating the surrender of villages in the Tavush region," the head of the RA Foreign Ministry emphasized.
Regarding the issue of the Rome Statute, as the head of the Foreign Ministry noted, rumors about any agreements with Azerbaijan on the withdrawal of international judicial proceedings are not true. "There is no agreement on this matter. Yes, numerous options are being discussed, naturally, with the understanding that this may become part of the general situation and environment," said the head of the RA Foreign Ministry, adding that any actions of the country's authorities will be coordinated and discussed in the context common diplomatic efforts. In addition, as Mirzoyan noted, the country's leadership never said that the Rome Statute was ratified in order to "bring Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to trial." "As far as I remember, such formulations have never been voiced by Armenian officials," noted Ararat Mirzoyan.
Notably, on March 13, in a conversation with journalists, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan reported that the four villages claimed by Azerbaijan were not part of the administrative territory of Armenia. He noted that work on delimitation and demarcation in the Tavush region has not yet begun, and there are also no specific deadlines. At the same time, he emphasized that Armenia continues to demand from Azerbaijan the territory of 31 non-enclaved villages under the control of the Azerbaijani side.
On March 12, at a press conference, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan, on the basis of reciprocity, can withdraw lawsuits from international courts, but this issue should be discussed at the very end of the negotiation process, when all the provisions of the peace treaty will be agreed upon, and the parties will only have to sign it. Earlier, in their justifications for the need to ratify the Rome Statute, the authorities announced the possibility of appealing to the ICC against the Azerbaijani authorities for committing war crimes on the territory of Armenia.