Armenian FM evades question about legality of use of Almaty  declaration as basis for border delimitation 

ArmInfo.The Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who also head the delimitation commissions, reached an agreement to begin the process of delimitation and demarcation based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan told a press conference on May 13, referring to criticism from diplomatic opponents that the Alma-Ata 

The declaration cannot form the basis of the process of delimitation  and demarcation of the border, and that this process must be  comprehensive, and the withdrawal of troops cannot be in any  particular area until the process is agreed upon in all sections of  the border based on a specific map.

At the same time, the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry added  that a number of international organizations and countries welcomed  this agreement, but did not answer or did not want to answer the  question regarding the legality of using this declaration as a  document for conducting the process delimitation, since this document  is not based on any map, which is a mandatory condition in the  delimitation process.

Regarding the criticism of Armenian diplomats regarding this process,  Mirzoyan assured that he is making great efforts not to be involved  in internal political processes, although he is a member of the  political team.

"I am also making efforts not to go beyond what is permitted in my  response to these so-called colleagues.  Apparently, the diplomats  you mentioned are those deserters who left their posts on the same  days when military aggression was committed against the sovereign  territory of Armenia. I cannot take this category of people  seriously. But the reality is even worse, by torpedoing the peace  process based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, these people continue to  torpedo sovereignty, statehood and independence, at best,  unconsciously, at worst, under the dictation of other states," he  said.

At the same time, Mirzoyan assured that the latest negotiations with  Azerbaijan were held in a constructive manner, based on previously  announced principles, and he had nothing to add to what was stated by  the Foreign Ministry following the meeting.

Armenian FMArarat Mirzoyan is being disingenuous when he says that a  number of Armenian diplomats deserted at a time when the country was  subjected to aggression.

The aggression against the sovereign territories of Armenia occurred  on May 12-13, 2021. After this, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan stated verbatim that the Armenian authorities will not  fight "for the mountain peaks where snow lies for six months" and  "will not aggravate the situation because of 30% of "Sevlich" - Black  Lake in Syunik region."

A few days after these statements, the then acting head of the  Armenian Foreign Ministry, Ara Ayvazyan, resigned and explained his  desire to resign by disagreement with the initiatives of the  authorities, which he considers contrary to national interests.

"I made this decision with great difficulty, but when I agreed to the  post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, there was one standard for me -  this ministry must strictly preserve our sovereignty, our  independence, our state, national interests. My resignation is due  precisely to this reason - so that there is never any doubt that our  ministry can take any step, give consent to any ideas, initiatives  that contradict our statehood, our national and state interests,"  Ayvazyan said then. After this, a number of diplomats who did not  agree with such a policy of the current prime minister resigned.