West Resorting To 'Diplomatic Raid,' Discrediting Russia On Lachin Corridor Issue - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday accused Western powers of resorting to "diplomatic raid" and trying to undermine trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Lachin corridor issue

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2023) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday accused Western powers of resorting to "diplomatic raid" and trying to undermine trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Lachin corridor issue.

"They (the West) are basically engaged in what I would call 'diplomatic raid,' when they are trying to take over the trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, trying to supervise all this work, directly undermining the key principles of these documents, which imply Russia's active participation in addressing both the unblocking of transport and economic relations and in delimiting the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in helping the parties sign a peace agreement," Lavrov said at joint press-conference after a meeting with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, in Moscow.

According to the Russian minister, the United States, the European Union and NATO openly declare they want to discredit Russia, while Russia is seeking to reconcile the conflicting parties, taking into account the interests of each side.

Lavrov also called for the full implementation of all aspects of the trilateral agreements regarding the Lachin corridor, which, according to the minister, is the only solution to the existing problem. Russian peacekeepers are currently working on it, Lavrov added.

Since December 12, 2022, the Lachin corridor, which runs through the Lachin district of Azerbaijan to link Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, has been blocked by a group of people from Azerbaijan described by Baku as environmental activists protesting alleged Armenian illegal mining in the area.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly said that the corridor's blockade violates the ceasefire declaration brokered by Russia between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020. The document delegated control of the Lachin corridor to Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh. In late December 2022, Pashinyan alleged that the peacekeepers did not fulfill their obligations, a claim that was dismissed by Moscow.