The activities of the tripartite commission established with the participation of the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia to unblock economic, trade, and transport connections in the region are not taking place at present, and the reason is Azerbaijan’s illegal intrusion into the territory of Armenia. The representative of the Armenian side in the working group, acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, spoke about this during a briefing with journalists in parliament. “It will be effective in a case where the situation is at least stable. I do not think constructive work is possible on that platform. Recently, communication has been interrupted,” Mher Grigoryan said. In response to the President of Azerbaijan’s statement that there is progress on the Zangezur Corridor issue, Mher Grigoryan emphasized, “I will assure you again that the Armenian side has not discussed this, and it will not discuss issues regarding a corridor. It is not even possible to discuss such an issue. If some people are referring to transport routes when they speak of a corridor, it is possible, but if they mean anything related to our sovereignty, I can assure you that this is excluded from the agenda of my discussions.”
Reporters asked how the Armenian side differentiates between the concepts of ‘corridor’ and ‘unblocking transportation routes.’ Mher Grigoryan responded, “And what do you mean by ‘corridor?’ I will assure you one thing: if someone implies by saying “corridor” some degree of influence related to sovereignty, then it is impossible.” In response to the clarifying question about what the paragraph related to those concepts is, the acting Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that the perceptions are different. “We are talking about our sovereign infrastructure in case of unblocking. Either there will be unblocking with the use of our sovereign, complete infrastructure, or there won’t be.” In response to the question of what troops will be deployed in that case, Mher Grigoryan countered, “There won’t be any troops.” As far as the conditions that Azerbaijan is imposing according to which it may be possible to destroy the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia under the name ‘corridor,’ Mher Grigoryan emphasized, “I do not know what you mean. We say that there is no discussion about a corridor. The terms of the January 11th statement have been used and will be used in the tripartite commission so far.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
