Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan explained during a parliamentary Q&A session on January 22 why the border demarcation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan is continuing from the northern section.

He noted that the decision to proceed with demarcation in the northern area is justified as several partial demarcations already exist there.

“A portion of the Kirants section has already been demarcated. We have demarcated segments that serve as a security guarantee. Our goal is to consolidate these segments into a monolithic and complete boundary,” he stated.

Responding to a remark from opposition MP Artur Khachatryan of the Armenia faction, who suggested that starting from the southern section would be more logical, Pashinyan said no approach should be dismissed outright.

“There is no segment of Armenia’s state border where we can say, ‘We won’t demarcate this, and we need another part of the border,’” he added.

On January 16, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan had reached an agreement on a new phase of border demarcation. The agreement envisions starting work in the northern section, from the point where the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia meet, and continuing southward to the Iran-Armenia-Azerbaijan border.