News - Pashinyan: Border delimitation with Azerbaijan can start from Armenia’s Tavush Province

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan does not rule out that the border delimitation with Azerbaijan can start from Tavush Province of Armenia. Pashinyan stated about this at his press conference today. "There are points of view that the [border] delimitation should be done in full, then focus on specific actions or an intermediate version, or start with the most complicated parts, and so on. I do not rule out that the [border] delimitation may start from Tavush Province. When making decisions, we should proceed from a comprehensive analysis of the realities and the situation, and with the logic of managing the existing security challenges around Armenia and the requirements and needs of ensuring the stability of the situation," Pashinyan said. Referring to the exchange of territories with Azerbaijan, he said that such possibilities are not great. "It can deform or bring additional risks. That's why I think that in the near future we should also take actions with the following logic: look where our communications are beyond the de jure borders based on these agreements, we should restructure those sections so that all communications of Armenia pass through all the de jure borders of Armenia in its own territory so that we don't have problems in that domain. In the near future, I will visit the Tavush Province to get familiarized with the problems on the spot. We don't have any decisions at the moment, but I think that we should manage this general process with that logic," Pashinyan said. In his words, the parties should come to a solution according to which the de jure borders of Armenia should be recorded and recognized. "And to place the de facto actions within the de jure borders," Pashinyan added. Also, he single out three important conditions. "Legal basis of the process taking place so that we do not do anything outside the right and the law. The second: the solution of functional issues, in particular, infrastructures, ensuring their natural activity. The third: security must be ensured also for the people living there along the delimited border," Pashinyan said.