Armenia’s acting PM offers that the units of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops equally pull back from the shared border to de-escalate the situation.
He suggests deploying international monitors along the border. According to him, the monitors could represent Russia or the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries.
Speaking at the sitting of the Security Council upon his return from Gegharkunik province, where six Armenian servicemen were captured this morning, Nikol Pashinyan said “the situation is tense, and the the tension tends to grow.”
According to him, the tension will keep growing not only because the servicemen of the two sides stand face-to-face and have been engaged in different incidents over the past 15 day, but also because after today’s incident there is a possibility that the Armenian servicemen could also try to take captives, the opposite side could respond, etc.
“My assessment is that if the situation is not settled, this provocation may lead to large-scale clashes,” Pashinyan stated.
He said that after the deployment of monitors, the border positions will be clarified in the next stage.
“This can be considered an official offer to Russia, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries and Azerbaijan. I hope this offer will be accepted. After having studied the situation on the ground, I’m confident this is the shortest, the most effective and reasonable option,” the acting Prime Minister stated.
