Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told residents of borderline villages in the Tavush region that a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan may erupt there later this week.
According to him, it is possible unless Armenia reaches a compromise with Azerbaijan on the issue of Azerbaijani enclaves along the border.
The Armenian government released a video of his meeting with villagers.
"Now we can leave here, go and tell [Azerbaijan], that we are not going to do anything. This means that a war will be started at the end of this week," Nikol Pashinyan said.
The Armenian PM explained that civilians would ask him, after a military conflict ends, why he, being aware of the threat of an outbreak of hostilities, hadn’t warned them in advance.
He noted that the delimitation process may cause some problems for some settlements.
"I came here because the delimitation process may cause some problems for some of our settlements...Delimitation is when we specify on the map what the coordinate of the border is, and demarcation is when we go, stand on the ground, and say this is where Armenia begins or ends," Nikol Pashinyan said.
The PM said that Armenia itself must recognize its territorial integrity so that other countries in the region do the same. According to Pashinyan, this is the only way to build the republic's future.
"It is important for us to specify the territorial integrity of Armenia. Our issue today with a number of countries in the region is that we want them to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia according to an agreement. But if we want others to recognize it, first we must recognize it ourselves. I have come to say that this is the only option to build our future," Nikol Pashinyan said.
In addition, according to the PM, after delimitation border guards will be located in the border areas instead of the troops.
"The most important result of demarcation can be that the troops leave their positions and the border guards come in their place. Shooting at each other is not accepted at all where the border guards stand; that is, there is no dispute in that section," Nikol Pashinyan said.
