Armenia is working towards normalization of relations with Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this in his address during Friday’s regular meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries.
"I consider it necessary to note the importance of the role of the CIS in this context. The work of [Armenian-Azerbaijani] border delimitation and border security [joint] commissions is important in the process of normalization.
As a result of our meeting with the President of Azerbaijan held in Prague on October 6 (...), an agreement was reached that in the delimitation process we will be based on the basic documents of the CIS, according to which the former administrative borders of the [former] Soviet republics have become state borders between already independent countries, including of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
(…) the above is an important factor also from the point of view of our today's agenda, as we are discussing also the matter of the petition of the CIS to obtain observer status in the CSTO.
Before making a decision [in this regard], I consider it important to decide on the following questions: Does the CSTO recognize the state borders of the CIS countries established in 1991 as basic documents of the CIS? This is an important question, as it is about the area of responsibility of the CSTO and, let me say, the functionality of the organization itself. (...).
It is also very important to give a clear answer to the following question: Do the CIS member countries recognize the borders established in 1991 between them as basic documents of the CIS? A positive answer to this question is very important for stability and security in the CIS area.
Without a clear clarification of these questions, I consider it premature to make a decision on the petition of the CIS to obtain observer status in the CSTO.
These questions have acquired particular acuteness for us due to Azerbaijan's recent military aggression against Armenia," PM Pashinyan added, in particular.
