WASHINGTON, February 19. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday at talks in Munich with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted progress toward a peace agreement between the two countries and also pointed to the need for free movement through the Lachin corridor, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a written statement following the meeting.
"He (Blinken – TASS) took note of the significant progress the two sides have made over the last several months towards a peace agreement and the offer of EU President Charles Michel to host the parties in Brussels. During their discussion, the Secretary underscored the need for free and open commercial and private transit through the Lachin corridor. He also called on the parties to open other transportation routes," the statement said.
Aliyev, Blinken and Pashinyan discussed the draft peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, according to the press service of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers. The press service pointed out that Pashinyan reiterated the determination of the Armenian side to achieve an agreement that would guarantee long-term peace and stability in the region. For his part, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan proposed to establish checkpoints on the border with Armenia. He added that Baku was studying Yerevan's response proposals on the peace treaty. Aliyev also stressed that Azerbaijan was in favor of delimitation of borders with Armenia based on historical maps.
On December 12, 2022, a group of Azerbaijanis who posed as environmentalists blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, where a Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed. Baku stated that the goal of the protest was not to block any road and that civilian vehicles could move freely in both directions.
Yerevan construed this step as a provocation by Baku, which was aimed at creating a humanitarian disaster in the unrecognized republic. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting that the blockade caused food shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh. On December 14, 2022, Armenia appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to oblige Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor.