Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the latest developments regarding the change of the Lachin Corridor route.
During a government session, Pashinyan reminded that “as a result of the agreement reached between the authorities of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh in August 2022, the route of the Lachin Corridor was changed with the commissioning of a new road. But since the Lachin Corridor, the road connecting the Republic of Armenia, was not fully ready, a temporary route was put into operation, which entered the territory of the Republic of Armenia via the Kornidzor bridge, then again into the territory of Azerbaijan, and then again into the territory of the Republic of Armenia. According to the reached agreement, that route was to operate until April 1, 2023.”
He stated that the previous day Armenia had informed the Azerbaijani side that, in accordance with the agreement, after the Kornidzor bridge the road would continue only through the territory of Armenia, and that the border troops of the Republic of Armenia would assume the protection of the state border of the Republic of Armenia in that section.
“I emphasize that the border troops will be deployed on the state border of the Republic of Armenia, in the same positions where units of the Ministry of Defense were deployed until now,” the Prime Minister said.
Referring to the information appearing in the Azerbaijani news flow, he said: “They are trying to present what happened as yet another blockbuster. This approach is at least not constructive.
I repeat that no change in Armenian positions has occurred as a result of all this, with the difference that we intend to carry out the protection of the section in question, unlike before, through the Border Troops.
That is, the change that is taking place is the following: from the same positions, along the state border of the Republic of Armenia, units of the Ministry of Defense will leave according to plan, and in their place units of the Border Troops will be deployed. We have also made the same proposal to Azerbaijan, so that the same happens on the Azerbaijani side.”
The Prime Minister expressed the hope that this process will take place without provocations.
