Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday revealed what appears to be fresh proposals by Russia regarding the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“The Russian Defense Ministry has made proposals on the preparatory stage of delimitation and demarcation,” Pashinian said in his remarks during a government session.
“These proposals are acceptable to Armenia,” he added.
Pashinian’s remarks came two days after Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed along their un-demarcated border, with both sides reporting casualties among their militaries.
Pashinian today asked Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikian “to clarify the details” of the proposals with his Russian counterpart. “Let’s try to implement the process within the framework of the proposals made by the Russian Federation,” Pashinian said, without elaborating.
During a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly on Wednesday Pashinian accused Azerbaijan of torpedoing the process by not responding to three Russian proposals on border delimitation and demarcation made since May when the current crisis began along the Soviet-era border between the two former socialist republics.
Pashinian reminded that still half a year ago he said at a government session that there was a document on the table that he was going to sign. “But why wasn’t that document signed? [The document wasn’t signed] because it did not reach the stage of the offer of signing… In my impression the process did not move forward because of Azerbaijan’s not giving a concrete answer,” he said.
After Armenian-Azerbaijani border clashes on November 16 Russia reiterated its call on both sides to engage in the process of border delimitation and demarcation.
“The latest developments demonstrate the importance of this process, including the need for a relevant commission to work on the basis of proposals made by the Russian side,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
During a meeting with Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigorian in Moscow the same day his Russian counterpart Nikolay Patrushev said that the Russian side was ready to provide relevant assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan in the delimitation and demarcation of their border.
Earlier, the United States and the European Union also urged Yerevan and Baku to work towards resolving “outstanding issues”, including border demarcation.
