2023-07-16 01:09:51
An Azerbaijani checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only road link between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region, on May 2, 2023. TOFIK BABAYEV / AFP
The resumption of control that Russia wishes to undertake over the peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh is wavering. Azerbaijan on Sunday (July 16th) accused Moscow of failing to meet its obligations under the ceasefire agreement the Kremlin sponsored to end the war between Baku and Armenia in this region populated mainly by Armenians but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
“The Russian side has not ensured the full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations”said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, adding that Moscow “did nothing to prevent” Armenia to deliver military equipment to separatist forces in the enclave.
In the fall of 2020, Moscow sponsored a ceasefire agreement at the end of a six-week war that saw the defeat of Armenian forces, forced to cede territories they had controlled for decades.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers International Court of Justice orders Azerbaijan to end the blockade of the Lachin corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh
Russia had undertaken to deploy soldiers to guarantee free movement between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh via the Lachin corridor, the only road linking Armenia to the enclave. This was closed on Tuesday by Azerbaijan on the grounds of acts of “contraband” carried out by the Armenian branch of the Red Cross, which was nevertheless able to resume medical evacuations from Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday.
Discussions in Brussels
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Armenian separatists are producing “radio interference directed once morest the GPS navigation systems of local and foreign airlines” flying in Azerbaijan. “These incidents pose a serious threat to aviation safety”the ministry said in a statement.
According to this source, on July 13, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying to the locality of Fizuli in Nagorno-Karabakh suffered a GPS system failure due to alleged interference. Armenian separatist authorities have dismissed these accusations, calling them “absolute lie”.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, subjected to a blockade, call for international aid
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged Azerbaijan to reopen the corridor. Russian diplomacy also said that Armenia’s recent recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan “radically changed the position of the Russian peacekeeping contingent” deployed in the region. As part of negotiations in late May, Yerevan agreed to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, subject to compliance with several mechanisms such as protecting the rights and security of Armenian residents of the region.
On Saturday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels for European Union (EU)-mediated talks aimed at resolving decades of conflict.
Demonstrations to reopen the axis
Mr. Pashinian on Thursday denounced a “blockade” illegal Nagorno-Karabakh, and several thousand people demonstrated Friday in Stepanakert, the main city of this region, calling on Azerbaijan to reopen this axis. Yerevan has feared for several months a serious humanitarian crisis in the enclave, due to increasingly difficult access conditions.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “It is a prelude to genocide that we are witnessing today in Nagorno-Karabakh”
Baku and Yerevan are trying to negotiate a peace agreement with the help of the EU and the United States, whose growing diplomatic involvement in the Caucasus irritates Moscow. On Saturday, in an effort to regain control, Russia offered to host a meeting of the two countries’ foreign ministers, and suggested that the future peace treaty might be signed in Moscow.
The World App
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has announced his intention to organize a new meeting with MM. Aliyev and Pashinian in Brussels following the summer, as well as a five-way discussion in early October in Granada (southern Spain), with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the next summit of the European Political Community.
Also read the forum: Article reserved for our subscribers “France must act to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and sanction the Azerbaijani”
1689481505
#Azerbaijan #criticizes #Russia #keeping #commitments
