Azerbaijan seeks to exercise customs and border control in Lachin Corridor in violation of 2020 agreement

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani government seeks to establish customs and border control in Lachin Corridor in order to reopen it, in direct violation of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, which stipulates that Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers.

Azerbaijani presidential assistant Hikmet Hajiyev, speaking to reporters, once again linked the possible opening of the Lachin Corridor with the opening of the Aghdam-Stepanakert road.

“The opening of the Lachin Corridor could be another component of the process of opening the Aghdam-Stepanakert road,” he said, adding that the opening of Lachin Corridor must take place with what he described as in compliance with Azeri national legislation and border control.

The Aghdam-Stepanakert road has been blocked by Nagorno-Karabakh residents after Azeri authorities announced intentions to send "aid" through that road, a move decried in Nagorno-Karabakh as a publicity stunt and attempt to subjugate them.

The Lachin Corridor has been blockaded by Azerbaijan since December 2022.