Putin, Pashinyan Discuss Illegal Blockade of Lachin Corridor and Karabakh Humanitarian Crisis

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to discuss Azerbaijan’s eight-month Illegal blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh’s vital land link with Armenia which was tightened last month.

According to the Kremlin’s readout of the call, the two men focused on “the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, including issues of ensuring unimpeded traffic through the Lachin corridor.”

Putin stressed in that regard the need for “consistent implementation of the entire set of agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan reached in 2020-2022.” He also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to “provide practical assistance in the drawing up of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.”

The Armenian government’s press office issued a  statement on Pashinyan’s conversation with Putin stating that they discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor and ways of overcoming it.

The Karabakh president, Arayik Harutyunyan, said later in the day that Pashinyan phoned Putin at his request. He discussed the results of the phone call with other Karabakh officials at a meeting in Stepanakert.

Harutyunyan’s office did not disclose those results in a statement on that meeting. It cited Harutyunyan as urging the international community to take “urgent and effective action” to improve the plight of Karabakh’s population.

“Given the alarming situation we face, the people and the authorities of Artsakh expect concrete results in the shortest possible time to alleviate the security and humanitarian situation and lift the blockade,” he said, adding that the authorities in Stepanakert are ready to “discuss and resolve all issues through civilized dialogue.”