13:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is constantly ready to discuss the unblocking of regional connections, but the issue of a corridor will not be discussed, Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan has said.

He said the corridor is a red line for Armenia.

Grigoryan noted that Armenia has been stating that issues related to unblocking can be discussed as part of two highly important concepts.

“First, the infrastructures that we are referring to must be Armenia’s sovereign infrastructures, and second, the Republic of Armenia must have complete jurisdiction over these infrastructures. We’ve always been ready within the framework of these principles, and we stand ready to develop the topic, and eventually unblocking, which I believe has important significance for Armenia too. But no issue of a corridor will be discussed, that’s a red line for us,” Grigoryan said.

The 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, contains a term on unblocking of regional connections. Clause 9 of the agreement states, in part,  “All economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions.”

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev has been generating a false narrative claiming that this clause entitles his country to have a “corridor” through Armenia’s territory into Nakhchivan. Armenia has repeatedly denied any such deal, noting that Azerbaijan’s demands constitute a threat. At the same time, Armenia has numerously said that it is ready to open regional connections in line with its national laws and jurisdiction.