“It means that the troops must be withdrawn at an equal distance from the Armenian-Azerbaijani border line, after which the border protection must be handed over to a limited number of border guards. As a result, there should be international monitoring to implement the agreements reached,” said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a government-NA questions-and-answers session on February 9, explaining what the government means when it says that in order to start the demarcation-demarcation process between the two countries, a mirror retreat of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops must take place.
“Is there a state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan? The answer to the question is yes, why? Because back in Soviet times, there was an Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which was delimited, and the 1991 CIS agreement, ratified by Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognized those borders. We think that these agreements should be implemented by this logic. We are ready to listen to other suggestions and ideas. There are speculations on this topic that the villages will remain defenseless. There is no such thing. Everything is taken into account in the package of proposals. Let us also admit that it is not the case that the offer is 100% appropriate, or comfortable for Armenia and an inconvenience for Azerbaijan․․․ There is a border line, where, we think, the troops should be withdrawn from. It will not predetermine the results of further demarcation. They must be the subject of negotiations.”
According to Nikol Pashinyan, the proposals are based on legitimate protocols.
Luiza Sukiasyan
