Russia supports launch of talks between Baku and Stepanakert, calls for immediate opening of Lachin corridor - Zakharova
YEREVAN, August 2. /ARKA/. Russia supports the launch of negotiations between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said to a press briefing on Wednesday.
She said Russian peacekeepers had already helped the parties in organizing meetings and are ready to continue to assist in this matter.
'Russia does not put forward any preconditions and is painstakingly working to bring together the approaches of the sides, which are currently seriously diverging amid the escalation and tension in Nagorno-Karabakh," Zakharova said.
She also said that territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be resolved within the framework of the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
She noted that Russia is ready to provide consultative and expert assistance to the parties.
She called also on Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor immediately. "We are working with the parties and, despite the fact that public appeals are not working, we reiterate the need to unblock the Lachin corridor without delay and ensure normal conditions for the life of the local population. Of course, much depends on political will and readiness for compromise steps," Zakharova said.
For more than seven months now, 120,000 Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have been under complete blockade of Azerbaijan with no food, medicine, fuel, gas or electricity.
The Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the rest of the world was initially blocked by Azerbaijani government-sponsored fake “eco-activists” on December 12, 2022.
Azerbaijan officially institutionalized the blockage of the road by an illegal checkpoint installation on April 23, 2023, grossly violating its international obligations.
Azerbaijan continues to demonstrate a willful disregard for the provisions of the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, the ECHR ruling of December 21, 2023, as well as ICJ orders issued on February 22 and July 6, 2023, calling on Azerbaijan to urgently “take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”-0-
