Armenia Cannot Cede Sovereign Territory for International Roads, Says NA Speaker

Armenia cannot cede any part of its sovereign territory for international roads for any second, third, or fourth country. This statement was made by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, during a briefing with journalists, responding to the remarks made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Aliyev had claimed at a press conference several days prior that if Armenia does not wish to carry out border demarcation, then the border will be established where Azerbaijan deems necessary.

“Let them pass as other citizens do. Considering this wartime situation, history, perhaps we could delegate a third country to conduct passport checks or registrations. These are technical issues. If there is a desire for peace, then Armenia is ready for peace, and we have stated this numerous times,” noted Simonyan.

It is worth recalling that on June 28, 2022, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan announced that a working group on unblocking regional communications, involving the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, had succeeded in bringing the positions of Yerevan and Baku closer on numerous issues related specifically to border and customs controls.

On May 22, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a meeting in Brussels. As a result of their joint discussions, agreements were reached regarding the opening of regional communications and the commencement of work on the commission related to border demarcation and security issues. The discussions also addressed preparations for the negotiation process concerning the normalization of relations between the two countries, humanitarian issues, and questions related to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.