YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized in his address on Wednesday during the parliamentary debates on the performance of the Armenian government in 2023 that the further guarantee for the development of Armenia's sovereignty and statehood lies in the regulation and deepening of relations with its neighbors. However, Pashinyan stated that it faces both internal and external challenges.

"One of those challenges is, of course, the ongoing aggressive policy of Azerbaijan, which is expressed in rhetoric, border provocations, the continuous occupation of the sovereign territories of Armenia, acquisitions of weapons worth tens of millions,’’ said Pashinyan.

According to the Prime Minister, Azerbaijan's statements about the reforms of the Armenian army, the formation of new defense structures, and the acquisition of ammunition are an inseparable part of that aggressive policy.

"In other words, what is Azerbaijan's presumption that the Republic of Armenia should not have an army to defend its own country?

I have stated, and I want to emphasize again, that having a combat-capable army is the sovereign right of every country. On the other hand, we also believe that provoking an arms race in the region cannot lead to positive outcomes. However, the reality is that we do not want to engage in an arms race with Azerbaijan.

And if Azerbaijan does not agree, we have a proposal for this situation, which we have previously discussed. We propose to establish a mechanism for mutual control of weapons and to carry out a mirror-like withdrawal of troops from the border line. This approach, by the way, would solve the issues concerning the four villages mentioned by Azerbaijan as well as our 31 villages.

We have suggested demilitarizing the border areas and entrusting the protection of the entire border to the border guard troops, while relocating units of the Ministry of Defense to their permanent bases. This can also be implemented in the case of the concept of a mirror withdrawal of troops,” Pashinyan noted.

According to him, all these proposals from Armenia have gone unanswered by Azerbaijan. "We hope to receive a positive response regarding the 8th edition of the peace treaty, which was submitted to Azerbaijan on March 14," concluded Pashinyan.