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Foreign diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan briefed about Armenia's consistently backtracking from agreements

18 September 2023 17:42 (UTC +04:00)

“For the past several months, efforts continued through different involved partners, in particular the Russian Federation, United States, and the EU, to materialize the simultaneous use of Aghdam-Khankandi and Lachin-Khankandi roads for the delivery of goods to the Armenian residents,” was during the briefing for the diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan that was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, APA reports.

It was noted that in all diplomatic discussions, all interlocutors, without exception, confirmed that formula of simultaneous passages from Lachin and Aghdam represents a legitimate and reasonable way out of the current impasse:

“It needs to be highlighted that the call for simultaneous passages was voiced in various statements issued by the US Department of State, Russian MFA, Spokesperson of the EU Council President, as well as in interventions delivered at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting held on September 12; On September 12, after long discussions and delays, the truck of the Russian Red Cross Society was finally allowed to pass through Aghdam to Khankendi. While it was the shared expectation of all involved that this would be a momentum for the realization of the simultaneous passages that has been on the table for months, yet, these hopes proved to be wrong again;

On September 10, within high-level contacts with the Unites States and other partners Azerbaijan has once again confirmed its adherence to simultaneous passage by the ICRC from Lachin and Aghdam with implementation of the Azerbaijan’s national border and customs control requirements when it comes to the passage from Lachin;

On September 11, shortly after receiving relevant requests from the ICRC for the passage of goods, the Azerbaijani side conveyed its readiness to facilitate the passage of goods as enlisted in these official requests, and asked the ICRC to notify the date and time when ICRC intends to organize such a simultaneous passage. In response, we got the message that ICRC has no green light from the Armenian side to accept the goods and ensure the security of the ICRC convoys;

While Azerbaijan responded to appeals of involved international partners consistently and considered in good-faith different options for simultaneous passages from Lachin and Aghdam, Armenian side with the same level of consistency backtracked from agreements and introduced new pretexts.