Armenia and Azerbaijan reached agreement on a draft document outlining procedures for border demarcation work, according to Armenian state media, marking incremental progress in negotiations that remain overshadowed by unresolved territorial disputes and competing regional power interests.
The agreement, announced by Yerevan officials on May 9, establishes a procedural framework for the joint border commission established following the 2020 and 2023 conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh. The document addresses technical aspects of demarcation work, including methods for surveying contested boundary segments and protocols for joint inspection teams.
Yet the progress remains narrowly technical. The framework does not resolve fundamental disagreements over which historical maps should serve as the basis for delimitation, nor does it address the status of Armenian villages that came under Azerbaijani fire control during recent border incidents. Multiple border segments remain militarized, with both sides maintaining forward positions established during periodic escalations since the 2020 war.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has pursued normalization with Baku despite domestic criticism, calculating that Armenia's strategic position has deteriorated following Azerbaijan's military victories and the exodus of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. The demarcation agreement reflects Yerevan's attempt to stabilize the relationship on terms that preserve Armenian sovereignty, even as Azerbaijan presses territorial claims and demands transit corridors through southern Armenia.
The regional power dynamics complicate bilateral progress. Russia, which traditionally served as security guarantor for , has seen its influence decline following its failure to prevent Azerbaijan's 2023 offensive in . 's distraction in created space for and to reshape the South Caucasus balance of power, while watches nervously as Azerbaijani-Turkish cooperation threatens to alter transportation corridors along its northern border.
