The Russian OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair Igor Khovev, who is visiting Yerevan, said that Azerbaijan must reopen the Lachin Corridor, which it has blockaded since December 12 and late last month has illegally installed a checkpoint there.
Khovev told Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan during a meeting Wednesday that the Lachin Corridor must operate under the provisions of the November 9, 2020 agreement, which clearly states that unimpeded traffic must be ensured along the road.
In discussing the ongoing tensions in Karabakh, Khovaev and Grigoryan stressed that rights and security of Armenians in Artsakh must be respected and protected, a press statement from the NSA said.
Khovaev also met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and discussed with them issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and unblocking of regional transport infrastructures.
Mirzoyan, who last week met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov near Washington, called on Russia and “partners interested in stability in the South Caucasus” to take effective action to address the Lachin Corridor blockade, which is a violation of the November 9, 2020 agreement. They also addressed the resulting humanitarian crisis in Artsakh.
