The Armenia-Azerbaijan border

The deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in Moscow on Friday and, according to official reports, clarified their approaches on border, customs and other control mechanisms that include the safe passage of citizens, vehicles and cargo through the territories of Armenia and Azerbaijan through transit routes and railways.

Mher Grigoryan, Shahin Mustafayev and Alexei Overchuk—the deputy prime ministers—are the leaders of respective commissions charged with unblocking transit connections between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as delimiting and demarcating the border, in accordance with agreements signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Friday’s meeting was the 10th such meeting held by the commission.

Commenting on the meeting, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Monday reiterated Yerevan’s position that the so-called unblocking process must adhere to the sovereignty and legislation of the countries through which roads pass.

“As an outcome of the meetings of leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan held in Sochi on November 26, 2021 and the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the President of the European Council held in Brussels on December 15, an agreement over re-launching the railway communication has been reached. Works on this direction continue. There is a common perception that all transportation infrastructure, roads and railways to be unblocked should operate under the sovereignty and legislation of the countries through which they pass,” Mirzoyan said at a briefing of the parliament’s committee on foreign relation.

Also speaking on the matter, as well as the delimitation and demarcation of borders, was Stanislav Zas, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, commonly known as the CSTO. Zas is in Yerevan to take part in the group’s parliamentary assembly, which kicked off on Monday.

“The trilateral agreement of November 9, 2020 continues to play an important role in stabilizing the situation. The successful completion of the demarcation and delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan can undoubtedly make a great contribution to strengthening the security of the entire region,” Zas said.

In the difficult conditions in the Eurasian region, the CSTO Secretary General sees the need for unity of the member states of the organization, as well as further development of activities in foreign relations, strengthening of defense, improvement of crisis response forces, complex measures to meet modern challenges and threats.