YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARTSAKHPRESS. The regulations of the Lachin corridor are negotiated and signed in the 9 November document and the re-negotiation of the regulations, furthermore as a result of renewed use of force of the threat to use force again cannot be an acceptable solution for the Armenian side, the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn in Yerevan.
He made the remarks in response to Azerbaijani President Aliyev’s speech in Munich, where the latter had said that they have offered Armenia to install checkpoints between Lachin and Armenia and in the so-called “Zangezur corridor”.
“Indeed, an idea like that has been voiced, to install checkpoints on the border of Armenia and in the section where the Lachin corridor begins. But our response is unequivocal and very public. This stance has been voiced immediately after the blockade of the Lachin corridor began, and it remains the same: The regulations of Lachin corridor are negotiated, signed, including by the President of Azerbaijan, I am speaking about the 9 November document. A re-negotiation of the Lachin corridor regulations, moreover as a result of renewed use of force and under the threat to use renewed force, is obviously unacceptable for us and cannot be an acceptable solution,” FM Mirzoyan said.
Asked to comment whether Azerbaijan demands the so-called “Zangezur corridor” from Armenia in exchange of opening Lachin corridor, the FM said that by analyzing the situation one can see the Azerbaijani expectation around opening the Lachin corridor for obtaining another similar corridor. This isn’t a new narrative and the position of the Armenian side has been voiced earlier again.
“We have the Lachin corridor, which, by the way, even before the latest war was separated as a humanitarian corridor in the entire negotiations process, given that the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are entirely blockaded by Azerbaijan, and the only road linking to the world and Armenia is the Lachin corridor itself. Meaning, the existence of the corridor has been highlighted since the beginning. And everyone, including Azerbaijan, accepted this, and it is also reflected in the 9 November document, the Lachin corridor is clearly stipulated in it,” Mirzoyan said.
Regarding the unblocking of other regional infrastructures, around which there are agreements in the 9 November document and the January 11, 2021 document, the stance of Armenia is again the same and very constructive. “We can immediately start the unblocking of those roads the moment we accept that all those roads to be unblocked, including the railway, will function under the sovereignty and legislation of the countries through which they pass. I think this is a much substantiated, constructive and very transparent approach, proposal and readiness,” the Armenian FM said.
FM Mirzoyan said the Armenian side rules out, doesn’t accept changes in existing agreements under the threat to use force or the aggressive policy of extorting concessions at the expense of one side’s interests, which is reflected in Azerbaijan’s statements.
