“I have publicly welcomed the announcement to start peace talks, emphasizing that Armenia is ready to resume talks, but Azerbaijan has not responded. According to unofficial sources, Azerbaijan intends to provoke new military clashes in Artsakh and at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters in government today after talks with European Council President Charles Michel.
He said, “We see the aforementioned expression today in the Nakhichevan portion of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The incidents provoked by Azerbaijan also do not allow us to begin works aimed at the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, to which I have also referred several times publicly.”
Regarding talks with the European Council President Charles Michel, Nikol Pashinyan said that he prioritized the return of Armenian POWs and captives in Azerbaijan immediately and without conditions. “Azerbaijan’s policy of not returning prisoners of war or hostages is not the only case of its violation of the trilateral statement. The statement also envisages unblocking all transport and economic infrastructures in the region. Azerbaijan obstructs this process not only with obvious threats to occupy the sovereign territory of Armenia, but also, in spite of its obligations, it refuses to provide Armenia with a corridor for the launch of the Armenia-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Russia railway. As always, we’ve said that Armenia will work consistently and constructively to unblock regional communications, rehabilitate former communications routes, and build new roads, particularly the north-south highway, and the support of the EU is very important here.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
