11:11

I was surprised when I read the recent interview where Prime Minister Pashinyan claimed that the accusation of Armenia delaying the process was false.

Axar.az reports that this was said by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his speech at the CIS Foreign Ministers' Council, while discussing trilateral agreements between Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

"One of the tasks is to restore transportation links between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. The document signed on November 9, 2020, by Presidents Putin, Aliyev, and Prime Minister Pashinyan states that both railway and road traffic will be restored. Its protection will be provided by the Russian Federal Security Service border troops. And I was surprised when I read Prime Minister Pashinyan's interview claiming that the accusation of Armenia delaying the process was false. It is strange because, in fact, Armenia initially refused the road and insisted only on having the railway. Azerbaijan saw no reason for this but agreed through our mediation. Then suddenly Armenia said that Russian border guards would not participate, although it is clearly written in the agreement. I said, this is not clear to us. 'We will do it ourselves,' they said. Azerbaijanis report that the level of distrust, even hostility, is still very high when crossing from Armenian territory to Nakhchivan at the initial stage, in order to ensure their security. Therefore, the possibility or impossibility of these negotiations often plays a decisive role," he said.