Top Azerbaijani, Russian diplomats discuss Lachin Corridor

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussed the ongoing situation in the Lachin Corridor during a telephone call Tuesday, according to the Azerbaijan foreign ministry.

Bayramov and Lavrov discussed bilateral issues, measures to ensure peace and stability in the region and the current situation around the Lachin Corridor, it said in a statement.

Bayramov noted that contrary to the tripartite declaration, protesters' demands to stop illegal economic activities and illegal use of the Lachin road in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are stationed, have still not been fulfilled.

He said allegations regarding the blockade and the humanitarian situation have no basis.

Since Dec. 12, Azerbaijani ecologists representing nongovernmental organizations had been protesting Armenia's illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Karabakh region, where Russian peacekeepers have been stationed since the end of the fall 2020 conflict and a January 2021 pact with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.