Pashinyan, Putin Discuss Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin reported by his office on Wednesday.

The phone call came three days after Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, thus tightening an effective blockade around the mostly Armenian-populated region where Russia deployed its peacekeepers after brokering a ceasefire in a 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

According to an official statement released by the Armenian prime minister’s office, issues “related to the Lachin corridor and the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh” were discussed during the phone call.

The Kremlin also reported the phone call, saying that the two leaders discussed “the developments around Nagorno-Karabakh with an emphasis on solving practical tasks to ensure stability and security in the region.”

“In the context of the current tensions in the Lachin corridor, the importance of strict compliance with the entire range of fundamental agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan was reaffirmed,” the Russian president’s office said, adding that the two leaders agreed that Russian-Armenian contacts would continue “at various levels.”