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.