YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan is trying to portray that Armenia is against and hinders the border delimitation and demarcation work. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the interim government of Armenia.

"The reality is exactly the opposite. It is Azerbaijan that is against the delimitation and demarcation work because it has brought obviously falsified maps to the arena, trying to substantiate the presence of its armed forces in a number of parts (…) of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan added.

Also, he stressed: "Both the international community and Armenia have clearly expressed their position on this issue: withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the given territories, border line, and the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces’ mirror withdrawal to the permanent deployment areas, deployment of Russian border guards or international observers on the border line, and preparation and start—under international auspices—of [border] demarcation and delimitation works.

This proposal of ours remains valid. We are working with our partners, particularly our Russian partners, in this regard, whereas Azerbaijan has not responded to this proposal in any way.

Azerbaijan is trying to create the impression that Armenia is against peace and the peace treaty. But Armenia has repeatedly publicly welcomed the April 13 statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs  (…)."

Pashinyan reminded that there are three precepts for the settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict: self-determination of peoples, exclusion of the use of force or threat of using force, and territorial integrity.

“This statement by the Co-Chairs is a proposal for a roadmap for the establishment of peace in the region, and Armenia has welcomed this statement. Armenia is ready to resume the process of peaceful settlement—in the format and content noted in the Co-Chairs' statement—of the Karabakh conflict.

I believe Azerbaijan's leadership would do well to heed the calls of international mediators instead of destructive actions and statements, and also express a clear position on the Co-Chairs' statement," Nikol Pashinyan said.