Armenia to exercise border, customs control by itself if regional communications open - Foreign Ministry

YEREVAN. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Yerevan has ruled out the possibility of any foreign country controlling any part of its sovereign territory in the event of unblocking regional transport communications, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said.

"The Armenian government recently published the Crossroads of Peace project, with key principles that make it clear that with the opening of regional communications, Armenia must exercise border control and customs control on its territory through its own state institutions," Badalyan said in her commentary in connection with a statement of Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Not long ago, the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia set up a special unit tasked with ensuring the security of communications, facilitating clearance of goods, cargoes, transport vehicles and people, Badalyan said.

"The Republic of Armenia has never agreed to any limitation to its own sovereignty under any document, and no third country may establish control over any part of [Armenia's] sovereign territory," she said.

Earlier on Thursday, Badalyan's Russian counterpart Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing that, "In accordance with the trilateral agreements [signed by Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan], the authorities of the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation are required to exercise control over transport traffic between Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic [via Armenian territory]."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said previously that Yerevan had elaborated the Crossroads of Peace project, the key goal of which is to develop communications in Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia.

Under the Crossroads of Peace project's principles, all infrastructure communications will operate on the basis of the sovereignty of each country that they run across, and every such country will carry out border and customs control and ensure security on its own territory through its own state institutions, Pashinyan said.