12:59,

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. The 9 November 2020 trilateral statement and the order signed by the Russian president afterwards stipulates Russian monitoring and not control, however the details on unblocking are still under discussion, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told reporters.

Speaking about the unblocking of regional connections, the Deputy Foreign Minister said that before going into details it is highly important for Armenia to record that unblocking will take place based on the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the parties, taking into account reciprocity of the unblocking process. He said that Armenia has always been constructive and eager to implement the unblocking process.

“Armenia has been displaying constructive approach ever since the statement was signed on January 11, 2021, and will continue to be constructive, because we are interested in unblocking of regional infrastructures and transport routes, because we believe that the Armenian Crossroads project has great potential, given also the geopolitical developments, logistic issues facing the world today,” Kostanyan said.

All details on unblocking, including security-related, must take place within Armenian sovereignty and jurisdiction. “If until now we haven’t been able to record on paper that unblocking will take place within the framework of sovereignty and jurisdiction, naturally the unconstructive side is Azerbaijan,” Kostanyan said.

Asked whether control of the road should be exercised by Russia under the 9 November statement, Kostanyan said: “The 9 November statement and the order signed by the Russian president afterwards speaks more about a monitoring function that the Russian FSB should implement, and not a specific control. But details on unblocking are still in the discussions phase.”