Thursday, July 29 2021 12:19

ArmInfo. Baku, by its actions, is trying to neutralize any possibility of dialogue, discrediting with its rhetoric and actions, including the Trilateral statements of  November 9 and January 11, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan stated on July 29 before the start of a government meeting.

In his words, despite the efforts of the Armenian government and the  international community, the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani  border is not stabilizing. "Azerbaijan continues its aggressive  rhetoric and the use of aggressive actions, while leaving unanswered  all the proposals of the international community aimed at a political  solution and long-term stabilization of the situation," he said.

Pashinyan recalled the April call of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs  to start a political dialogue at the highest level at the earliest  opportunity under the auspices of the co-chairs. "Until today,  Azerbaijan has not responded to this call, meanwhile Armenia has  repeatedly stressed its readiness to start the negotiation process in  the proposed format at any time," he said. In addition, Yerevan, as  Pashinyan stressed, also expressed its readiness to start a dialogue  on issues that were outside the scope of the OSCE MG mandate.

Thus, according to the acting prime minister, the actions of Baku,  among other things, are aimed at discrediting the Trilateral  statements. In particular, contrary to paragraph 8 of the Tripartite  Statement of November 9, 2020, trials of Armenian prisoners of war,  hostages and other detainees on trumped-up charges continue in  Azerbaijan, as a result of which they are sentenced to long years of  imprisonment. "It is worthy of special attention that almost all  those convicted in the recent period were taken prisoner after  November 9, in the zone of responsibility of the peacekeepers (of the  Russian peacekeeping contingent - ed. note). If we compare this fact  with the large-scale campaign waged in Azerbaijan against Russian  peacekeepers and the fact that Baku has not yet signed the mandate of  peacekeepers, it becomes obvious that this is directed against the  peacekeepers, that is, the establishment of stability and peace in  Nagorno- Karabakh, "he said.

At the same time, according to the acting head of the Armenian  government, Baku is taking consistent actions aimed at discrediting  the topic of unblocking regional communications. Despite the fact  that the statements of November 9 and January 11 do not mention or  formulate a "corridor", and also do not indicate specific routes,  Baku raises this issue, he said. "Earlier, I have repeatedly stated  that Armenia did not discuss, does not discuss and will not discuss  any issue within the framework of the corridor logic," Nikol  Pashinyan noted, stressing once again that, thereby, Azerbaijan is  working against the opening of regional communications, which is  extremely important for the Armenian side.

According to him, it is unambiguous for Yerevan that all regional -  economic and transport communications should be unblocked. As a  result of this, as Pashinyan noted, Armenia should receive a land  "exit" to the Russian Federation, Iran and Central Asia through the  territory of Azerbaijan, a similar opportunity will be provided to  Baku for access to Nakhichevan, Georgia and Iran. For the  implementation of this program, customs checkpoints must be  established at the appropriate sections of the border, the crossing  of which must be carried out within the framework of international  law and the rules of the CIS.

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces not only continue to illegally stay on  the sovereign territory of Armenia, but also consistently take  provocative actions, thus, trying to discredit the CSTO system, at  the same time accusing Yerevan of provocations, Acting Prime Minister  of Armenia stressed. In his words, Armenia, which will assume the  chairmanship of the CSTO from September, understands the full  responsibility not to involve its partners in military operations. "I  officially rule out any provocative actions by the Armenian Armed  Forces," he said, stressing the importance of deploying the CSTO  monitoring mission along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in order to  avoid mutual accusations in the future. At the same time, as pointed  out by the acting Head of government, given the impossibility of  implementing such a mission, other internationally accepted formats,  including the OSCE Minsk Group, are acceptable to Armenia.

Pashinyan stressed that Baku's assertions that Yerevan opposes the  process of delimitation and demarcation do not correspond to reality.  Moreover, in his words, the Armenian government received a  corresponding mandate from its people. He recalled that on May 27, at  a meeting of the Security Council of Armenia, he proposed the  shortest way to resolve the conflict - a mirror withdrawal of the  troops of the two countries, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers  in the Sotk-Khoznavar section, monitoring of the border line, and  then the start of the delimitation and demarcation process. "Taking  into account the current situation, I believe that it is reasonable  to consider the issue of placing strong points of Russian border  guards along the entire border with Azerbaijan. This will allow  carrying out delimitation and demarcation work without the risk of  military clashes," he said, adding that Yerevan plans to discuss this  topic with Russian counterparts.

As emphasized by the acting Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, in  accordance with the mandate received from the Armenian people, the  Armenian government intends to take all necessary actions to ensure  peace and stability in the region.