Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), said yesterday (21 May) in questions from the media that the demarcation and delimitation processes of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border must be part of a “comprehensive peaceful settlement process, in which the issues of de-occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh Republic] and determining the final legal status of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] must be addressed first, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.”
Her statement follows over a week of disputes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with Yerevan accusing Azerbaijan of incursions into Armenian territory – claims disputed by Baku, who say they are “just restoring [their] internationally recognized borders […] on the basis of maps available to each of the sides”. On Wednesday (19 May), the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, stated that Russia was ready to participate in a committee on border demarcation; however, yesterday’s statements by the Armenian MFA appear to suggest that this is will not be welcomed in Yerevan before the re-establishment of an OSCE-led settlement process.