YEREVAN, December 19. /TASS/. Yerevan agrees not to deploy third countries’ forces on the border with Azerbaijan once it is delimited, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.
"We suggest extending the provision on the non-deployment of third countries' forces to the delimited sectors of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, which makes sense because the delimitation process reduces the risk of an escalation in those areas to the lowest level," he noted in an interview with the Armenpress news agency.
"That said, once the border delimitation process is over, there will be no need for the presence of third countries’ forces at any sector along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and this is the logic that Armenia suggests following," Pashinyan added.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said earlier that two issues remained unresolved in talks on a peace agreement with Armenia, which concerned the non-deployment of third countries’ forces on the border and the withdrawal of the lawsuits that the parties had filed against each other with international courts.
On September 2, the Armenian government published a draft document ratifying provisions on the joint work of the border delimitation commissions. According to the bill, the Armenian and Azerbaijani commissions involved in the delimitation process will use the maps and documents that have a legal justification. On September 24, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law approving the provisions related to the joint efforts of the border delimitation commissions and border security between Armenia and Azerbaijan.