Blinken In Call With Azerbaijani Leader Reaffirms Importance Of Reopening Lachin Corridor

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 22, 2023 | 07:10 PM

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, reaffirmed the importance of reopening the Lachin corridor between unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, the State Department said

WASHINGTON/BAKU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2023) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, reaffirmed the importance of reopening the Lachin corridor between unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, the State Department said.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to offer continued U.S. assistance in facilitating bilateral peace discussions with Armenia.� Secretary Blinken encouraged finding solutions to outstanding issues and underscored that there is no military solution," Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

"He reaffirmed the importance of reopening the Lachin corridor to commercial and private vehicles. Secretary Blinken said the United States looked forward to continued cooperation with Azerbaijan on the peace process," Patel said.

According to a statement on the Azerbaijani president's website, during the conversation with Blinken, Aliyev announced the need to create a checkpoint at the end point of the Lachin road.

"During the conversation, Aliyev expressed serious concern about the use by Armenia of a road alternative to the Lachin corridor for illegal military transportation, rotation of personnel, as well as the fact that about 10,000 servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces are still on the territory of Azerbaijan. In this regard, Aliyev emphasized the need to create an Azerbaijani checkpoint at the end point of the Lachin road on the border with Armenia," the statement said.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Western countries are making attempts to cause a quarrel between Russia and Armenia, but they are doomed to failure. According to him, the United States, the EU and NATO are trying to control the trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.