Pashinyan offers Azerbaijan to simultaneously withdraw troops from border

Armenia and Azerbaijan should simultaneously withdraw their troops from the border and let international observers there, Nikol Pashinyan, the Acted Premier, has suggested after his trip to the border village of Kut, treating the situation as "explosive".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 27, six Armenian military servicemen, who allegedly were engaged in mining operations on the border of the Gegarkunik Region of Armenia with Azerbaijan, were captured. The Armenian government appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with a demand to ensure the protection of the captured persons' rights.

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is explosive and tense, Mr Pashinyan has stated following his visit to the Kut village, near which the above Armenian soldiers were captured.

To resolve the conflict, Azerbaijan should withdraw its troops to their initial positions in the Sotk and Khoznavar area and allow international observers to enter this area in order to clarify the border, Nikol Pashinyan suggested at a sitting of the Security Council. "I appeal to the international community; and my proposal is also addressed to the leadership of Azerbaijan: we agree that very quickly the armed units of the two sides leave the border at the same time and return to their places of permanent deployment; then, international observers from the Russian Federation or other co-chairing countries of the Minsk OSCE Group should be deployed along the border," Nikol Pashinyan has suggested.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 27, 2021 at 07:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.