Azerbaijan considers the decision of the Armenian government to establish three checkpoints on the border as an imitation of the fulfillment of its obligations under article 9 of the Tripartite Statement dated November 9/10, 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said, Report informs.
"As for the violation of sovereignty, according to article 9, the border service of the Russian Federal Security Service controls the traffic on the territory of Armenia. The question of to what extent this fact violates sovereignty should be given to the Armenian government. According to the results of the conducted monitoring, the roads leading from these points are not suitable for transport connection with Nakhchivan, which is one of the objectives of the restoration of communications, and international transit transportation, due to the terrain and climatic conditions," he stressed.
The Deputy Prime Minister also said that, as a rule, checkpoints are opened with the parties' consent on a mutual basis: "There was no agreement with Azerbaijan on this issue. Therefore, the main reason for the non-fulfillment of article 9 of the statement on the transport connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan is that the highway recommended by the monitoring carried out by Armenia does not provide the optimal route."
Mustafayev noted that it is also important to agree on transit modes for international transit transportation and simplified transit modes for domestic transportation on a parity basis: "Thus, the speculation and imitation of the Armenian side on the subject distorts the essence of the 20-month negotiation process, leads to its delay, and, ultimately, to the failure of Armenia in fulfilling its obligations."