Baku dismisses Washington's Lachin road "blockade" statement

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aykhan Hajizade has dismissed Washington's latest "blockade" statement in the Lachin-Khankendi road and urged Armenia to fulfil its obligations and stop illegal activities.

He made the remarks on Twitter on January 25 in response to US State Department Spokesman Ned Price's earlier statement calling on Azerbaijan to lift the "blockade" on the Lachin road, Caliber.Az reports. 

“Dear Spokesman for the US Department of State, more than 1,000 of vehicles bringing supply into the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan proves the opposite of what you said on January 24. It would be appropriate to call on the Armenian side to fulfil obligations and stop illegal activities!” he said.

On January 23, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a phone call to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"During the conversation, the US secretary of state expressed concern over the situation on the Lachin corridor in the territory of Azerbaijan. Antony Blinken reiterated the US’s commitment to normalisation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and support for the peace treaty talks," Azertag reported.

President Ilham Aliyev said there was no blockade of the Lachin-Khankendi road, adding some 980 vehicles have passed through this road since December 12, 2022, of which over 850 belonged to the Russian peacekeepers and over 120 to the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC]. Aliyev also underlined about 90 sick persons and those in need of medical assistance had been taken to Armenia by the ICRC. According to President Ilham Aliyev, these facts show that Azerbaijan did not close the Lachin-Khankendi road.

The head of state underlined that illegal operations on the mining sites must be stopped on the Azerbaijani territories where the Russian peacekeepers had been temporarily deployed with the permanent conditions to be created for the monitoring by Azerbaijan. Aliyev drew Blinken’s attention to Armenia’s using the Lachin road for the illegal shipment of mines made in 2021.

He reiterated Azerbaijan’s commitment to the peace process and normalisation of relations with Armenia. The head of state underlined that the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal must include only the normalisation of bilateral relations based on international law and principles, and five principles proposed by Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan would ensure the rights and security of the Armenian civilians living in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh economic zone on the basis of the Azerbaijani constitution and laws.