Armenia agrees not to deploy third-country forces on the border with Azerbaijan

Armenia agrees not to deploy forces of third countries on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border after its delimitation. This was announced by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on December 19.

During an interview with "Armenpress" agency, he pointed out that the Armenian side is involved in negotiations on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. He noted that the second country was sent proposals on two non-agreed articles more than a month ago, to which no response has been received until today.

"The risk of escalation in these sections (delimited sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. - Ed.) is significantly reduced by delimitation. <...> After the full delimitation of the border, there will be no need for the presence of third forces on any section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and the Republic of Armenia offers such logic," Pashinyan added.

In addition, he pointed out that Armenia is ready to withdraw lawsuits against Azerbaijan after the signing of the peace treaty. However, he noted that there are two nuances on this topic. One of the points, as the Armenian Prime Minister specified, presupposes a clear prospect of resolving certain humanitarian issues in bilateral format at international forums. The second point, according to Pashinyan, is that the issues that have been resolved in international forums should not be repeated in the future in order not to aggravate the agenda of bilateral relations.

Earlier, on October 23, it became known that the National Assembly of Armenia ratified the provisions on border delimitation with Azerbaijan in the first reading. 67 deputies voted for the adoption of the draft. They assume that disputes between the republics will be resolved not militarily or by force, but on a special platform.

On August 30, Yerevan and Baku signed a provision on joint activities of commissions on border delimitation. Later, political scientist Artur Ataev told Izvestia that the peace agreement between the countries does not guarantee a complete cessation of hostilities in the future, the document will only stabilize the situation for a while.

Prior to that, on July 20, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed fears that Armenia's documents stipulating territorial claims to the republic could become a barrier to the conclusion of a peace agreement.

Relations between the two countries have been aggravated also against the backdrop of disputed ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh. On October 5, 2023, Pashinyan signed a declaration recognizing Azerbaijan's borders, which included Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite this, there are still periodic armed clashes on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia.