Lavrov called on Azerbaijan to open the Lachin corridor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a conversation with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, stated the need to unblock the Lachin corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The Russian side stressed the need for the soonest complete unblocking of traffic along the Lachin corridor in accordance with the parameters set out in the tripartite Statement at the highest level of November 9, 2020,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the importance of reaching mutually acceptable solutions on all related issues was also emphasized in order to resume comprehensive work on key tracks of Azerbaijani-Armenian normalization based on agreements between the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Earlier, information appeared about the shutdown of gas supply in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as reported by the adviser to the NKR State Minister Mesrop Arakelyan on social networks. “Gas supply to Artsakh has been stopped. Azerbaijan continues its actions to liquidate the Armenians,” he wrote.

On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway in the Lachin corridor. This road is the only one that connects the transport accessibility between the NKR and Armenia. According to Yerevan, due to the blockage of the corridor, there was a shortage of essential goods, food and medicine.

Ten days after the blockade of the corridor, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan criticized the actions of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that the mission was not fulfilling its obligations. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin noted that the peacekeepers are doing everything possible to ensure order in Karabakh. On January 10, Pashinyan announced that Yerevan could initiate the dispatch of a multinational mission to the region in the UN Security Council.