Russian military on the Lachin Corridor
In the United States, talks between representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle the recent conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region began on Monday.
In the United States, talks between representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle the recent conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region began on Monday. According to the government, the four-day negotiations will take place in a building belonging to the US State Department outside of the capital Washington. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken received Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsoya and Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Dscheihun Bairamov for a dinner.
A few days ago, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the only connecting road from the war-torn conflict region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, the Lachin Corridor. Yerevan condemned the move as a breach of the recent ceasefire between the two sworn enemies; Baku justified it with an alleged “illegal transport of workers, weapons and mines from Armenian territory” intended for “illegal unions of Armenian bandits on Azerbaijani territory”.
The two Caucasus republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting over the border region of Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union and have already fought two wars over the area. After recent fighting that left more than 6,500 dead in 2020, Russia brokered a ceasefire agreement that forced Armenia to give up large areas. Nevertheless, there are always deadly skirmishes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
For months, Armenia has also been accusing the neighboring country of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in Nagorno-Karabakh by blocking the Lachin corridor. In the region, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians, there is a lack of food and medicine, and the area is also suffering from power cuts.
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