Russia on Friday called for the complete un-blocking of the Lachin Corridor. However, Moscow’s demand was not directed at Azerbaijan, which has been blockading Artsakh since December 12. It instead called on “Baku and Yerevan to demonstrate political will and swiftly resolve existing disputes.”
“We call for a complete unblocking of the Lachin corridor according to the November 9, 2020 statement by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Friday during a press briefing where she also urged Baku and Yerevan to resolve their differenes.
“Unlike the majority of international players, who have limited themselves to issuing statements and calls for de-escalation, the Russian side has been searching for real solutions on the ground and is providing humanitarian aid,” Zakharova asserted.
She said Russia’s Defense Ministry, the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh and the Russian foreign ministry are in constant contact with the relevant parties.
Zakharova also reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to organize talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow with the mediation of foreign minster Sergei Lavrov. Such a meeting was scheduled to take place in late December, but Yerevan said it would not attend the talks since it was preoccupied with Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. “We have notified both Yerevan and Baku about this and we have publicly spoken about this,” Zakharova said.
“We consider difficulties on the ground that emerge periodically should not become obstacles or pretexts for freezing the negotiations process,” Zakharova said.
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“It is necessary to resume the work in all directions of the normalization of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations as soon as possible, including the unblocking of transport routes, border delimitation, signing of peace treaty, as well as contacts between the civil societies,” Zakharova added.
