A regular session of the RA government took place today, chaired by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Before discussing the agenda, Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to another provocation carried out by the Azerbaijani armed forces on April 11, as a result of which four servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were killed, to the situation in Tegh village, and reaffirmed the readiness of the Armenian side to settle relations through negotiations.
In his speech, Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, noted:
“Dear participants of the government session,
Dear people,
.
On April 11, the Azerbaijani armed forces carried out another provocation in that area, as a result of which 4 servicemen of our Armed Forces were killed, selflessly fulfilling their military duty and protecting the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
Please observe a moment of silence to honor our fallen brothers. (Participants of the government meeting stand for a minute of silence to honor the memory of the fallen service members).
Thank you.
I’m not going into the details of the incident right now because I think the published video gives an idea of what happened.
As for the situation in the Tegh village section since March 30, I think the problem needs a detailed investigation, including evaluating our efforts to secure the part of the state border initially.
At the same time, I must record that the actions of Azerbaijan in the mentioned area are provocative and contradict the statements made as a result of the meetings held on October 6, 2022, in Prague, and October 31, 2022, in Sochi.
Regarding the political assessment of the border situation, I think that the message spread by the European Union the previous day, where the borderline of 1991 is emphasized, is essential. We are talking about the administrative border between the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijani SSR, which was transformed into a state,e border on December 21, 1991 by the declaration in Alma-Ata.
Here, that boundary should be respected. recorded in the protocol of the European Union. It emphasizes the withdrawal of the armed forces of both sides from that border to a safe distance as a reliable guarantee of the stability of the situation. I consider it necessary to emphasize that Armenia is ready to take such a measure along the entire border line of Armenia-Azerbaijan in 1991. We express our readiness in this regard from 2021, and such action follows from the logic of the Prague mentioned above quadrilateral and Sochi trilateral agreements.
Such a solution is hindered by Azerbaijan’s destructive approach. Azerbaijan systematically demonstrates its practice of not fulfilling the agreements reached on international platforms. So it is with the release of captives. This is the case with respect to the maintenance of the ceasefire regime and the non-use of force or the threat of force, which was agreed upon in writing on October 31, 2022 in Sochi. This is the case with regard to the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, which Azerbaijan continues despite the February 22 decision of the highest international court, the International Court of Justice. But in case of non-compliance with the court’s decision, international mechanisms are outlined, and our efforts should be focused on implementing those efforts.
At the same time, in spite of all the difficulties, we remain committed to the policy of settling all regional issues, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and Armenia–Azerbaijan relations through negotiations.
We are also ready for the reopening of regional economic and transport links based on the principles we have previously expressed.
We are also ready for border delimitation based on the above-mentioned Prague and Sochi agreements. Thank you.”
