Armenia to Raise Lachin Corridor Closure Issue at UN Security Council

YEREVAN — Armenia will raise the issue of the closed Lachin corridor at the United Nations Security Council, the country’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan said on August 10, adding that related work is “in progress.”

“No one can say when, on what day, but the Republic of Armenia will raise this issue at the UN Security Council. Why do I say that work is in progress? Because without preparatory work, at least to the extent that we can hope that we can expect a result for us, I think it is obvious that we cannot just fire this one shot with a blank cartridge,” Marukyan said in an interview with CivilNet, a leading local news website.

In an August 8 urgent appeal to the international community on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan also asked Yerevan to immediately make the situation a subject of discussion at the UN Security Council.

Marukyan said that Armenia is working to ensure that none of the members of the UN Security Council, especially its five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom — do not interfere with the process.

“In this sense, I would not compare it with the previous times, because this time we are determined to go for a resolution. We have never been after a resolution. That is, in this sense, it is very important that thorough work be done, and we count on a UN Security Council resolution on the Lachin corridor. We need at least 9 “for” votes, and in this regard, I believe that serious work has been done, is being done and still needs to be done,” Armenia’s ambassador-at-large said.

Marukyan said that Azerbaijan is taking countermeasures against Armenia’s move at the UN Security Council.

When asked which country unambiguously supports Armenia in this matter, Marukyan said that it would be wrong to give the name of any country now. “There is a very important circumstance here that the process of adopting a resolution at the UN Security Council is open and public. Previous negotiations, for example, on an application, on the application of the chairman, were a different procedure, and they contained discussions that are not public, not visible. In this case, you will see which country will take which position,” he said.

Asked about November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement signed by the leaders of Armenian, Azerbaijan and Russia, Marukyan said that it has a higher legal force than a political statement.

“There is a tripartite document dated November 9 [2020], the presence of which is recognized by us, Azerbaijan and Russia, that is, this document has not been canceled, it exists, it is in force, its architecture in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh has not been completely canceled, on its basis the International Court of Justice adopted its interim decision. If we read this decision, we’ll see that it is also built on the November 9 document, and thus the international community gives force to the November 9 document. While in previous discussions at the UN our international partners wanted to avoid references to the November 9 document, how are they going to avoid it now, when the court is building its interim decision on it? This document from November 9 [2020] is a valid document, and statements are statements of a political nature. I repeat that a document has a higher legal force,” Marukyan underscored.