Armenian PM says situation deplorable after talks in Moscow

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is dissatisfied with the results of May 25 talks with his Russian counterparts in Moscow on "unblocking" the Lachin corridor.

He said this on May 29, speaking in the parliament, Caliber.Az reports, quoting Armenian media.

Pashinyan called the current situation "deplorable".

"I cannot say that the results are satisfactory. This is a painful situation; I have already said that such blocking of the corridor took place in the presence and in front of Russian peacekeepers. We will continue discussions with our colleagues to resolve this situation,” the prime minister stated.

He added that Yerevan and Baku did not agree on such a document, which could have been signed on June 1 in Chisinau.

"We have not received answers to the fourth package of our proposals to Azerbaijan. At the moment there is no agreed draft that could be signed [in Chisinau]," Pashinyan said.

At the May 25 trilateral meeting in the Kremlin, the Russian president noted that the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia "is developing towards settlement despite an abundance of difficulties and problems". According to Putin, there is still a lot of work to do to resolve transport-related problems but such problems are purely technical.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said after the talks that the upcoming meeting in Moscow would focus on details concerning border crossing and border control issues.

In his address to an expanded meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held in Moscow on May 25, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev clearly described the current situation in the Lachin-Kahnkendi road.

“On the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which you recognise, a border checkpoint has been set up in accordance with all international standards. This border checkpoint is located 20 metres from the post of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. And today, through this border checkpoint, residents of Azerbaijan of Armenian nationality, who live in Karabakh, can freely move towards Armenia. There are no obstacles, including those for patients who are transported by the Red Cross, as well as ambulances from the city of Khankendi. Any unbiased person, of course, should be able to see this. I think that there is no need to try to use the platform for unfounded accusations,” he said.

Pashinyan said at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik on May 17 that Armenia recognises Azerbaijan's sovereignty within its borders of 86,600 square kilometres, which includes Karabakh, adding that the settlement should be reached via dialogue.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Karabakh, a territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union’s break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in and around Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire. Later, the three leaders adopted several more joint statements on the situation in the region. Last year, Azerbaijan and Armenia began to discuss a peace treaty.