Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan Cancels Scheduled Meeting with Russian and Azerbaijani FMs Over Blocking of Lachin Corridor

YEREVAN — Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has cancelled a fresh meeting with his Azerbaijani and Russian counterparts scheduled in Moscow on December 23, due to Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, it emerged on Thursday.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry revealed that the trilateral meeting was agreed two weeks ago before the blocking of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijanis. Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vahan Hunanyan stated.

“Obviously, at the moment the priority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan is the unimpeded resumption of movement along the Lachin Corridor in accordance with the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 and addressing the problems created as a result of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh, based on which the Armenian side has requested to postpone the meeting scheduled in Moscow,” the Spokesman said.

At the same time, he said, as a sign of the constructiveness of the Armenian side in the process of normalization of relations with Azerbaijan, regardless of the circumstances of the meeting, the new proposals of the Armenian side regarding the document on the normalization of relations were transferred to Azerbaijan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart discussed the issue in a phone call on Thursday. The Russian Foreign Ministry said they “expressed regret for Yerevan’s decision to refuse to participate in the meeting scheduled for December 23.”

Lavrov also raised with Bayramov the road blockade. According to the Russian readout of the call, he “stressed the need for strict observance of the trilateral agreements on ensuring unhindered communications between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia along the Lachin corridor.”