Russian FM: Armenia still fails to delimit border with Azerbaijan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Armenia has not delimited the border with Azerbaijan yet.

Lavrov made these remarks in an interview with Sputnik, Moscow Speaking and Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations, Caliber.Az reports.

He noted that when the Armenian officials say that the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) cannot determine its zone of responsibility in the country, Yerevan itself has not determined it.

Lavrov drew attention to the statement of the Armenian authorities about their readiness to respect the borders as of 1991 within the Almaty Declaration, which means that Karabakh is in Azerbaijan.

“In parallel, the border delimitation and demarcation commission was established. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced four non-enclave villages in the Tavush district, which he is ready to return. He is now convincing the population that this action is right. The border as of 1991, which Pashinyan wanted the CSTO to confirm and protect, is not taken into account,” Lavrov said.

“Therefore, before saying that the CSTO is obliged to determine its zone of responsibility, it is necessary to determine the borders of Armenia, to complete delimitation process, which the Armenian leadership is actively doing,” the minister said.

He reminded that the CSTO fully agreed on the document on the transfer of additional weapons for border protection, on holding special exercises and on the deployment of the CSTO mission on the border at the summit in Yerevan in 2022, and all ministers endorsed it.

“All ministers, including the Armenian one, endorsed this document. However, the next morning, when the prime minister opened the summit, he said that there was no consensus. There was a consensus in the Armenian society on the EU mission, which was promised for two months. Now it is unlimited, the Canadians are already there, other NATO member states want to go there too. This is not an EU mission, it will already be a NATO mission,” Lavrov noted.

He noted that in any case, when the document recognising Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and recognising the Almaty Declaration was signed, there was not a single word about the need to ensure special rights of the Armenian national minority in Azerbaijan.

Lavrov said that it is wrong to say that the Armenians left due to the inaction of Russian peacekeepers.

He expressed hope that there will be talks between the Armenian and Russian leaders, where all these issues can be discussed without arguments given by Western ill-wishers.

Earlier, the CSTO stated that its zone of responsibility in Armenia is its sovereign territory within the determined state borders with its neighbouring countries. Earlier, Pashinyan urged the CSTO to clarify this issue, otherwise Yerevan would leave the CSTO.