Pashinyan urged to send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor

The ongoing blocking of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijani representatives makes it necessary to send an international fact-finding mission there, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting. This corridor is the only transport artery connecting Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

“I must also emphasize that the prolonged blockade of the Lachin corridor increasingly speaks of the need to send an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and the corridor. Efforts must be made in this direction.” leads his words “Sputnik Armenia”.

The blocking of the corridor has been going on for 25 days and Baku has not taken any action to remove it, Pashinyan noted, in connection with which Yerevan expects “more substantive” steps from the international community and Russia, which has committed itself to control the transport artery by peacekeepers. This is one of the points of the tripartite statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan dated November 9, 2020.

At the end of December it became known that Yerevan addressed to the International Court of Justice, demanding from Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor. In its lawsuit, Armenia points out that about 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in the NKR and there are no signs of lifting the blockade by Azerbaijan at the moment. Yerevan’s request concerns the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the court itself noted.

From December 12, 2022, the way towards Nagorno-Karabakh control Azerbaijanis – according to the official Azerbaijani version, eco-activists are holding their actions there, who oppose the illegal exploitation of natural resources, demanding that they be allowed to go to the Gyzylbulag gold deposit and the Demirl copper-molybdenum deposit. In their opinion, Armenia conducted illegal mining there. Yerevan, in turn, declares an extremely tense humanitarian situation caused by Baku’s actions.

December 27 Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the topic of the Lachin corridor with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who had previously accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to fulfill their obligations in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Kremlin added that the international peacekeepers that Pashinyan asks for can be involved if there is the consent of all parties, that is, not only Armenia, but also Azerbaijan. Moscow also noted that they are concerned about the tension that has arisen around the Lachin corridor.