Avinyan: Armenians, Azeris deployed on border as per Soviet maps

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian and Azerbaijani border guards are temporarily deployed in areas determined with the help of Soviet military maps from 1975-1976, Deputy Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan has said, the Armenian Service of RFE/RL reports.

According to him, no process of legally establishing borders between the two countries is currently underway.

Avinyan also insisted that no other document has been signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, apart from the trilateral statement signed with Russia on November 9, 2020.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the delimitation and demarcation of borders are legal processes. He said the sides need to "at least" have bilateral relations to start such processes.

"It's a matter of at least a few years, it is quite a long-term, labor-intensive process. We haven't completes that process with neighboring Georgia to date, it takes quite a lot of time," Avinyan explained.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry earlier issued an official position on the matter, maintaining that the "delimitation and demarcation are successive bilateral international processes that require the existence of a joint commission and within the framework of which professional discussions and negotiations are held. A prerequisite for the above-mentioned processes is the existence of normal bilateral relations, including diplomatic relations, between the neighboring states."