BAKU, September 6. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed opening roads so that cargo could be delivered to Karabakh during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the press service of the Azerbaijani President reported.
According to it, the conversation took place on the initiative of the US side on September 1. "During the telephone conversation, views on issues related to the opening of the Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin-Khankendi roads were exchanged. President Aliyev emphasized that the notorious separatist regime Armenia has created and supported in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan deliberately prevents the opening of Aghdam-Khankendi road as well as creates artificial obstacles for its use. <…> Azerbaijan’s President noted that this denial to use Aghdam-Khankendi road is political manipulation, and the statements about the humanitarian or food crisis in this territory are deliberate lies," the report says.
The Azerbaijani president also said that after opening Aghdam-Khankendi road, Lachin-Khankendi road can also be opened "with the application of the rules of customs and border control regime of Azerbaijan". Aliyev also emphasized that Armenia's delivery of cargoes to the Lachin border checkpoint, which it claims have humanitarian purpose, without coordination with the Azerbaijani side "is interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan and disrespect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty." "The Azerbaijani president noted that such a policy severely harms the negotiations on the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan," the report states.
According to the press service, Blinken announced that he would continue efforts aimed at signing a peace treaty and normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He emphasized that the US has been keeping in direct contact with Baku and the Karabakh Armenians.
According to the Armenian side, the Lachin corridor, which is the only land route from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, was blocked by a group of Azerbaijanis on December 12, 2022. Baku then officially established a checkpoint on the border with Armenia near the Hakari Bridge. The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly declared its readiness to provide the Armenian population of the region with everything they need via the Aghdam-Khankendi highway.