By Alexander Pracht
Armenia is prepared to allow Azerbaijani vehicles to transit through its territory at any moment, as the necessary infrastructure is in place, however, Armenia cannot act unilaterally, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an article published Tuesday by state news agency Armenpress.
“Armenia has never undertaken any obligation, written or oral, agreed, or even hinted that ensuring security on its own territory should or could be outsourced to another country. There simply is no such thing,” he wrote. This is likely a reference to Azerbaijan’s interpretation of the 2020 ceasefire declaration, which implies the creation of a transport route connecting Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia, with Russian border guards securing the road.
Pashinyan added that Armenia will ensure the safety of cargo transportation and assumed that if Azerbaijani drivers are uncomfortable using vehicles with their country’s license plates, they can use trucks registered in Turkey or any other country instead.
The Armenian Prime Minister also wrote that Baku frequently exploits and escalates the issue of regional communication, alleging that Armenia is failing to fulfill its commitments. He stressed that Armenia has no unilateral obligations in this matter, noting that both countries have agreed to open transport and economic routes to each other. He pointed out that Azerbaijan has not allowed any transport or economic connections from its territory to Armenia, including roads, railways, pipelines, power lines, or cables.
He highlighted that Armenia had already initiated steps to open its roads to Azerbaijan as early as 2022. The government had circulated a draft decision to open three border points, allowing Azerbaijani vehicles to enter Armenia and travel to Nakhichevan and Turkey. However, these plans stalled due to Azerbaijan’s refusal. Pashinyan noted that if Azerbaijan were to agree, the Armenian government could formalize these decisions within a week or two.
Pashinyan reiterated that the physical infrastructure for Azerbaijani transit is already in place. Trucks could enter Armenia via the Lachin corridor and travel through Armenian roads to the now-closed Armenia-Turkey border through the recently renovated checkpoint in Margara. While there are currently no checkpoints between Armenia and Nakhichevan, it would not take long for Yerevan and Baku countries to set up one or two, Pashinyan concluded.
The November 9, 2020, agreement that ended the Karabakh war provided for a corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and envisaged an “unimpeded connection” between mainland Azerbaijan and its exclave, Nakhichevan, to be overseen by the Russian FSB. Armenia maintained that there could be no extraterritorial passage through its territory. Although the agreement lost its relevance following the ethnic cleansing and loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia has yet to withdraw its signature from it.
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