Security Council discussed situation on Lachin road

Baku/21.12.22/Turan: On December 20,  at the call of Armenia, hearings were held at the UN Security Council over the situation in the Lachin corridor of Azerbaijan.

The representative of France called for the opening of a corridor and access to Karabakh for humanitarian missions. She mentioned Azerbaijan's obligations to ensure unhindered movement in both directions. She also called on Baku and Yerevan to continue the dialogue to conclude a peace agreement.

Draft statement :

A representative of the UAE called for compliance with the provisions of the trilateral statements of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. He called for the solution to the conflict within the framework of international law.

A representative of Albania stressed the importance of ensuring free movement along the Lachin corridor, which is important for the population living there. He called on the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to engage in dialogue to solve the environmental problems of the region.

A representative of China said that the situation in the Lachin corridor should be resolved through dialogue. He emphasized Russia's important role in the matter. He also called for solving problems within the framework of the trilateral statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and the norms of international law.

A US representative expressed his concern and called for the opening of the Lachin corridor. He welcomed the restoration of gas supply to the region and called unacceptable the creation of humanitarian problems for the population. Also, he called for the resolution of disputed issues on the basis of international law through negotiations, and not by military means.

Russia is concerned about the closure of the Lachin corridor, which is caused by disagreements over the development of mines in the region, a representative of Moscow said.

Russia is counting on the restoration of transport links in a short time. The Russian side is taking all measures to resolve the situation in the Lachin corridor at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. As a result, it became possible to resume the gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh and partially unblock the traffic along the corridor. Parameters are being agreed upon for visits by Azerbaijani environmental experts to the ore deposits in Karabakh.

She called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from steps that could increase tensions, and noted Russia's role in preparing measures to open transport communications in the region and delimit the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A British representative expressed concern about the closure of the Lachin corridor, the humanitarian problems that have arisen, and called for its immediate opening. He called for the return of people who were stuck on the road. He also expressed satisfaction with the restoration of gas in Karabakh.

Representatives of Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Ghana, Ireland and Gabon spoke in a similar spirit.

A representative of Armenia accused Azerbaijan of violating trilateral statements and international law. He called the blockade of the road illegal under a far-fetched pretext, which led to a humanitarian catastrophe. He also claimed that Baku deliberately wants to deprive the population of Karabakh of living conditions and carry out ethnic cleansing. He claimed  that the protests of environmentalists are an event organized by the Azerbaijani authorities, and called on the Security Council to put pressure on Azerbaijan.

A representative of Azerbaijan accused Armenia of falsification and manipulation of public opinion. He considered it unacceptable that the Security Council is being used to put pressure on Azerbaijan. He recalled that the territory called "Nagorno-Karabakh" is the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, which is recognized internationally. An official name of this region is the Karabakh Economic Region. This territory has been under the occupation of Armenia for nearly 30 years, which has ignored four UN Security Council resolutions all these years, nor implemented them.

The Lachin road is completely located on the territory of Azerbaijan. The population of Lachin numbering 77. 000 Azerbaijanis were expelled by the Armenians, and Lachin itself and all the villages around were burned by the Armenians. These lands were liberated during the 44-day war in 2020.

Neither the Azerbaijani government nor the protesting activists blocked the Lachin road. The mode of movement of people, transport and cargo along this road has not changed, and the peacekeepers continue to perform their functions to protect this route. This is evidenced by video reports from the site. The allegations of the humanitarian catastrophe are contrary to reality. This is nothing but manipulation on the part of Armenia. There are no obstacles for the delivery of goods, for the movement of local residents or the delivery of medical services.

As for the reasons for the activists' protest on the Lachin road, it is caused by Armenia's violation of paragraph 4 of the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020 on the complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the region. Speaking about the humanitarian nature of the Lachin road, Armenia used it for military purposes – the transportation of weapons and manpower, which contradicts paragraph 6 of the trilateral statement.

In violation of paragraph 1, Armenia has not fully provided maps of minefields in this region. In the period after the war, Armenia transported hundreds of thousands of mines and installed them on the territory of Azerbaijan. This was done along the so-called humanitarian Lachin corridor.

Besides, the Lachin road is used for the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources. The Armenian side is illegally developing more than 50 deposits of Azerbaijan's natural resources in gross violation of environmental standards, which has already caused serious damage to nature. All this causes legitimate discontent of Azerbaijan. In spite of the fact that a roadmap had been agreed with the command of the Russian peacekeepers on the inspection of mines for the development of gold and copper, the Armenian side disrupted this event.

Azerbaijan will not put up with all this and counteract all measures within the framework of the UN Charter and will not allow external pressure. Azerbaijan also guarantees the rights of its citizens of Armenian origin.

The representative of Azerbaijan called the interference of some external players in this situation unacceptable, calling the sending of businessman Ruben Vardanyan to Karabakh a destabilizing fact.

He called on the international community to make Yerevan renounce illegal actions and conclude a peace treaty. -02B-