March 30, 2023 - 15:33 AMT
Pashinyan denies change in Armenian positions on Azeri border

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a government meeting on Thursday, March 30 that there has been no change in Armenian positions recently.

Pashinyan’s remarks came amid certain publications in the Azerbaijani press.

“As you know, as a result of an agreement reached between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities in August 2022, the route of the Lachin Corridor was changed with the launch of a new road, but since the road connecting the Lachin Corridor to Armenia was not completely ready, a temporary route was opened, which entered the territory of Armenia through the Kornidzor Bridge, then again to the territory of Azerbaijan, then again to the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

“Under this agreement, this route was supposed to operate until April 1, 2023. Yesterday, we informed the Azerbaijani side that, according to the agreement, after the Kornidzor bridge, the road will continue only through the Armenian territory and that the Armenian border guard troops will take over the protection of the Armenian state border in that area.”

He noted that some time ago, information was spread in the Azerbaijani media in an attempt to present the incident as another "blockbuster".

“This approach is not constructive. I repeat, as a result of all this, no change in the Armenian positions has taken place, with the difference that we intend to protect the area in question with the deployment of border guard troops. In other words, the change that is taking place is as follows: the units of the Ministry of Defense will withdraw from the same positions along the Armenian state border, and border guard troops will be deployed in their place. We have suggested to Azerbaijan that the same should happen on their side, I hope that the process will proceed without provocations,” the PM added.