Armenia agrees to non-deployment of third-country forces on delimited Azerbaijan border

Armenia has agreed not to deploy forces from third countries along its border with Azerbaijan following the delimitation of the border.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made this announcement in an interview with local media, Caliber.Az reports.

“We propose the article about the non-deployment of the forces of third countries to cover the delimitated parts of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and this is logical, because in those parts the risk of escalation is significantly decreasing if not minimizing,” Pashinyan stated.

“Therefore, after the complete delimitation, there won’t be the need for the presence of a third force in any part of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and the Republic of Armenia is proposing this logic,” the PM added.

Prime Minister Pashinyan also announced that Armenia has formally proposed a solution to resume railway communication with Azerbaijan, which had been suspended since the early 1990s due to military conflicts in Karabakh and along the two countries' border.

Pashinyan stated that Armenia has identified a mutually acceptable solution for restoring the railway connection. "We have conveyed the offer of this solution in a written form to Azerbaijan and we are waiting for their positive response," he said.

“When this reaction happens, it will be necessary to swiftly sign an agreement and start the construction of the railway,” the PM added.

In a separate development, Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed Armenia's constructive stance on the potential dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, which had long been tasked with mediating the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

"We understand the stance that if there is no conflict what's the meaning of the existence of a format dealing with the conflict resolution,” Pashinyan said.

However, Pashinyan also stressed the importance of ensuring that Azerbaijan approaches this issue with the same logic, specifically mentioning concerns over Azerbaijan's position on West Azerbaijan. He cautioned that Armenia hopes Azerbaijan’s aspirations in this regard isn't about engaging in aggressive policy against Armenian territory.

By Vafa Guliyeva