The White House on Thursday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, amid concerns of escalation following the blockade of the Lachin corridor.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has conveyed his concerns in talks with Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan and Azerbaijani Presidential Foreign Policy Department Director Hikmet Hajiyev.
Thus, Sullivan has called for the full restoration of free movement through the corridor, which has «growing humanitarian implications», referring to the shortage of essential goods, including food, in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Nevertheless, the advisor, who spoke separately with Grigoryan and Hajiyev, noted that the countries’ representatives took stock of the progress made in the peace talks coordinated by the United States and the European Union at the end of September.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday called on Azerbaijan to «take measures within its jurisdiction to ensure the safe passage through the Lachin corridor of seriously ill patients in need of medical treatment in Armenia and other persons stranded on the road without shelter and means of subsistence.»
Following this, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced the delivery to Azerbaijan of a set of proposals for a peace agreement, before stressing that Yerevan had already submitted proposals months ago on border delimitation work and the composition of the border security commission.
The Azeri authorities decided to blockade the area and suspend gas supplies, according to Armenia, so the local authorities – who began to store fuel to avoid a major crisis in the face of the blockade – asked the population to use cars only when necessary, giving priority to ambulances and minimum services.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been involved in several clashes in recent years over the control of Nagorno Karabakh, a territory with a majority Armenian population which has been the focus of conflict since it decided to separate in 1988 from the region of Azerbaijan integrated into the Soviet Union.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
