Armenia and Azerbaijan denied on Monday that a deal between them was in the pipeline to draw demarcation lines based on 1975 maps
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2023) Armenia and Azerbaijan denied on Monday that a deal between them was in the pipeline to draw demarcation lines based on 1975 maps.
On Sunday, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan had said in a televised comment that the leaders of the two South Caucasus countries had made some progress in border dispute talks in Moldova on June 1, agreeing to use Soviet-era maps as the basis for border delimitation discussions.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry fiercely denied the allegation on Monday and accused the Armenian security chief of trying to "distort the essence of issues."
"Instead of insisting on special reference to some 1975 map, it would be more useful for the Armenian side to start the delimitation work," the statement read.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed on Monday that no deal had been reached at the negotiations in Moldova but added that Armenia saw the 1975 borders as acceptable.
Mirzoyan reiterated Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's assurances that Armenia recognized Azerbaijani territorial claims set out in the 1991 Almaty Declaration. Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan should discuss the ownership of the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh with local authorities.
"Neither the people of Nagorno-Karabakh nor their elected administration tasked us with negotiating their status. We are not negotiating their status," Mirzoyan said.
"The Republic of Armenia has always recognized and still recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. We are aware of Azerbaijan's commitment to respect Armenia's territorial integrity," he added.
