YEREVAN, Aug 2 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan discussed the situation in Karabakh with the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell on Wednesday, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.
«The interlocutors exchanged views on issues of regional security. They discussed the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh in connection with Azerbaijan's illegal blocking of the Lachin corridor,» the message posted on the Foreign Ministry's website says.
According to the press service, Mirzoyan stressed the need to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the decisions of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6, 2023, as well as urgently provide Karabakh with food, medicine and other essentials.
«The need was stressed to ensure the full and uninterrupted work of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only international humanitarian organization with access to Nagorno-Karabakh. The Minister of Foreign Affairs called the abduction by the Azerbaijani border service (a resident of Karabakh — ed.) Vagif Khachatryan, who was being transported, a gross violation of international humanitarian law. from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for treatment,» the press service noted.
Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported that a 68-year-old patient, who was taken from Karabakh to Armenia for treatment, was detained by the Azerbaijani border service at the checkpoint, accompanied by ICKS employees.
On April 23, 2023, Azerbaijani border guards set up a checkpoint on the border with Armenia — it appeared at the beginning of the road in the Lachin corridor that leads to Stepanakert. The checkpoint is located on a new highway built after the 2020 truce to bypass Lachin — at the bridge over the Khakari River, 16 kilometers east of the village of Tekh in the Syunik region of Armenia. Near the object there is an observation post of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. Earlier, in December last year, the same road was blocked by Azerbaijani environmental activists — according to them, the action was an expression of protest against the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in Karabakh. The appearance of the checkpoint in Baku was explained by the unlawful use of the road to Stepanakert by the Armenian side and security threats. Azerbaijani border guards indicated that the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the Russian-Turkish monitoring center had been informed about this.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry called the establishment of the checkpoint a gross violation of the tripartite statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan in 2020. In response, Baku called the establishment of a checkpoint a legitimate step.
At the end of September 2020, hostilities resumed in Karabakh, which became a continuation of a long-term conflict. The parties made several attempts to conclude a truce, but the tripartite agreement reached on the night of November 10 was successful. With the mediation of Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to completely cease fire, remaining in their positions, and to exchange prisoners and the bodies of the dead. In addition, the Kelbajar and Lachin regions, as well as part of the Aghdam region, which were previously under the control of the NKR and were not occupied by the Azerbaijani army during the hostilities, crossed Baku. Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in the region, including the Lachin corridor.
Last year, Yerevan and Baku, with the mediation of Russia, the United States and the European Union, began discussing a future peace treaty. At the end of May this year, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that 86.6 thousand square kilometers of the territory of Azerbaijan, which Yerevan is ready to recognize, also includes the territory of Karabakh. As Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev stated, Azerbaijan and Armenia can sign a peace treaty before the end of the year if Yerevan does not change its position.