Yerevan: The Armenian government has neither an objective nor a goal  to escalate the situation in the South Caucasus

ArmInfo.  The Armenian government has announced on the highest level that it has neither an objective nor a goal to escalate the situation and continues to act  by the principles of the peace agenda, as noted  by the press  secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Ani Badalyan, who answered  the questions of Armenpress,  in response to the  statements by  Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry  spokesperson Aykhan Hajizadeh, who  falsely accused Armenia of violating the ceasefire and failing to  fulfill its obligations.

Question- Ms. Badalyan, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry  spokesperson, in response to the March 19 statement by the Prime  Minister's Office of Armenia, once again accused Armenia of ceasefire  violations.  The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry made a similar  statement as well. Are there any grounds for such accusations?

Answer- The Government of the Republic of Armenia has announced on  the highest level that it has neither an objective nor a goal to  escalate the situation and continues to act by the principles of the  peace agenda. The Armed Forces of Armenia are subordinate to the  Government and function under this very logic. The Ministry of  Defense of Armenia has announced that it is ready to investigate  facts substantiating the reports of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry,  should such be provided to Armenia. I have to note that so far  Azerbaijan hasn't conveyed any factual information to Armenia about  ceasefire violations allegedly committed by Armenia. Azerbaijan has  also not responded to the 22 June 2024 proposal made by the Republic  of Armenia on creating a joint mechanism for investigating cases of  ceasefire violations and/or such reports.

Question- Commenting on the statement by the Prime Minister's Office  of Armenia, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused  Armenia of proposing difficult initiatives the implementation of  which are not practically impossible.

Answer- Armenia and Azerbaijan have officially announced the  finalization of the draft agreement "On Peace and Establishment of  Interstate Relations" and the conclusion of the negotiations around  finalizing the draft. Logically, the agreed-upon document must be  signed, and the Republic of Armenia proposes to launch consultations  about the venue and timeframes for signing it. Clearly the proposed  process is neither difficult nor unfulfillable.

Question- The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson spoke about  the need for dissolving the OSCE Minsk Group and constitutional  amendments in Armenia. What's Armenia's stance over this issue?

Answer- The Republic of Armenia has announced on the highest level  its readiness to consider the dissolution of the OSCE MG. Armenia  simply wants to make sure that this would mean the de facto and de  jure end to the conflict and not its shift to the territory of the  Republic of Armenia under the narrative of the so-called 'Western  Azerbaijan.' Regarding the Armenian Constitution, the 26 September  2024 ruling of the Armenian Constitutional Court made it obvious that  the Armenian Constitution doesn't contain any territorial claims  against any country.  On the contrary, the Republic of Armenia  believes that it is Azerbaijan's Constitution that contains  territorial claims against Armenia. But we also believe that the  finalized text of the peace treaty solves this issue. Why? Because  the finalized text stipulates that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize  each other's territorial integrity within the borders of the USSR  republics, they don't have territorial claims against each other and  are bound to not make such claims in the future. Besides, the text of  the agreement underscores that the parties cannot cite their domestic  legislation for failure to fulfill the terms of the agreement. As a  reminder, article 5 of the Armenian constitution stipulates 'in case  of conflict between the norms of international treaties ratified by  the Republic of Armenia and those of laws, the norms of international  treaties shall apply', i.e., the Armenian Constitution cannot be  cited as an obstacle for not signing the peace agreement. On the  contrary, the signing of the peace agreement is even the most  effective way to address the concerns pertaining to the Constitution.

Question- Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of failure to fulfill  obligations on reopening regional communications and offering complex  and long routes for transport link between Azerbaijan's western  regions and Nakhchivan.

Answer- Armenia doesn't have unilateral obligations in the issue of  opening regional economic and transport communications. The separate  agenda of the transport connection between Azerbaijan's western  regions and Nakhchivan is part of a bigger agenda of unblocking  regional transport and economic ties, which also includes the  unblocking of the Republic of Armenia. Secondly, Armenia has  proposed, in the first phase, to launch the  Zangelan-Meghri-Ordubad-Yeraskh railway cargo transportations. This  is the shortest possible railway between Zangelan and Ordubad.  Regarding the roads, we have the kind of roads and terrain that we  have, and to accuse us of being a mountainous country would be  unserious, to say the least.

Question- Azerbaijan continues to accuse Armenia of militarization  and deployment of offensive armaments in the border areas, and  preparations for a scenario of using force.

Answer- A scenario of using force? For solving what issue? Which  issue on the agenda of the Republic of Armenia could imply the use of  force? Only the issue of more than 200 square kilometers of occupied  territory of the Republic of Armenia could had caused such  interpretation, but the Republic of Armenia has clearly expressed its  stance about this, that it doesn't seek to solve this issue through  force because the delimitation process, and now also the finalized  text of the peace agreement, have created all possibilities for  peacefully resolving that issue. Armenia can only prepare for one  scenario of force, i.e., to withstand a possible aggression, which is  the legitimate right of any country, and every step by Armenia in the  border regions fit exclusively in the logic of defense.  It is worth  recalling that back in 2021 Armenia proposed a reciprocal, mirror  withdrawal of troops from border areas, which Azerbaijan rejected. In  this context, the region's militarization can be concerning, and  Armenia has proposed Azerbaijan to create a bilateral mechanism for  mutual arms control to resolve this issue, but so far Azerbaijan  hasn't given a positive response.  The Republic of Armenia doesn't  conduct militarization, it implements the strategy of army  transformation, which is a public document. I once again reiterate  the commitment of the Republic of Armenia to the agenda of peace and  call on Azerbaijan to launch consultations about the date and venue  for signing of the finalized text of the agreement on peace and  interstate relations.