Pashinyan on Armenian-Azerbaijani Commitments to Secure Trump's Route

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has clarified the issue of who will ensure the security of the Trump route being established under a joint declaration signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the United States. During a press conference in Washington, Pashinyan emphasized that within the framework of sovereignty, authority, and territorial integrity, Armenia provides security on its territory, while Azerbaijan does so on its own.

“But when it comes to business management models, I want to state the following. For example, Zvartnots Airport has its own security service. This means that companies have their security services, banks have security services, and I am sure that South Caucasian Railways has its own security service. However, the activities of these services in no way surpass and cannot surpass the functions of Armenia’s law enforcement agencies and, in general, the activities of state and local self-governing bodies. I mean that when we talk about security, we also need to understand what we mean by this. Authority, sovereignty, and territorial integrity mean that only the laws of the Republic of Armenia operate on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, and this is a very important statement. I reiterate that there will be investors and investment companies. These investment companies can have security services, such as those that thousands of companies in Armenia probably have today, but this in no way limits the powers and activities of the Armenian police, national security service, and the judicial system,” Pashinyan emphasized.

Responding to the differing approaches of Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding unblocking mechanisms, Pashinyan noted that there are certain differences because Armenia wants to attract foreign investors, and foreign investors are interested in business management models. “Azerbaijan, perhaps due to the absence of significant financial constraints, is not interested in this. Perhaps it is because Azerbaijan has a very active railway, gas pipelines, and oil pipelines. For example, we do not have the capacity to manage oil pipelines because we have never had oil pipelines. The United States and potentially other partners have this capacity. Right now, we are having issues when constructing schools; imagine the problems we would have when building and managing an oil pipeline, and problems will begin when we are accused of not fulfilling our obligations, that we are supposed to open routes, made promises, and are unable to keep those promises. This is the logic. On the other hand, we can invite other investors; however, other investors also want certain guarantees for their investments. Right now, for instance, the presence of the United States and the name of President Trump also gives a certain investment confidence to investors. And we want that this presence in Armenia gives greater confidence to potential investors that investments can be made in Armenia. I assure you that as a result of all this, all of Armenia’s investment ratings will increase; they are already rising right now,” said the Prime Minister of Armenia.