YEREVAN, April 18. /TASS/. Armenia's refusal from delimitation and subsequent demarcation of borders with Azerbaijan will lead to a new escalation of tensions in the South Caucasus region, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

"If we do not take these steps (delimitation and demarcation - TASS), I guarantee that there will be another hotbed in our region," he said at a meeting with residents of a border village.

Pashinyan also said that the demarcation process also involves risks, but they are manageable, after which "Armenia will become ten times stronger."

Armenian authorities are in talks with Azerbaijan about the possibility of starting the border demarcation in the Tavush Region, which would result in the transfer to Baku of four villages that have been under Armenian control since the 1990s and were part of Soviet Azerbaijan. Residents are concerned that this will make it impossible for them to live in Armenian villages, as the border will pass several dozen meters from their homes. There are also fears that the gas pipeline from Russia through Georgia to Armenia, as well as a section of the highway with Georgia, could come under Azerbaijani control.

The opposition also accuses Pashinyan of making unilateral concessions because the Armenian authorities do not guarantee the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the territories belonging to Armenia, which Yerevan claims they occupied as a result of armed clashes in 2021 and 2022.