MOSCOW, December 15./TASS/: Moscow is concerned about the Lachin Corridor being blocked and expects that this transport link will be re-opened soon, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"We are concerned about the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, caused by disagreements between the parties over the development of ore deposits. The Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian peacekeeping contingent have been vigorously working in recent days to de-escalate the situation. We hope for the full restoration of the transport link soon," the diplomat said.
Zakharova stressed that the Lachin Corridor ensures a connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and is under the control of a Russian peacekeeping contingent. "In signing the statement of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders of November 9, the parties undertook the respective commitments that they must fully comply with," she went on to say. "It is inadmissible to create problems for the livelihood of the civilian population," Zakharova stressed.
She also emphasized that accusations and acts of provocation against the Russian peacekeepers are inadmissible and counterproductive "no matter where they come from." "The Russian peacekeeping contingent is efficiently carrying out its tasks, acting as a guarantor of stability in the region," Zakharova added.
On December 12, a group of activists from Azerbaijani non-governmental environmental organizations started protesting on the Lachin-Shusha road in Nagorno-Karabakh against the illegal mining of natural resources in the areas controlled by the Russian peacekeeping force. The activists set up tents and said they wouldn’t leave until they were provided access to the Gyzylbulag and Damirli deposits, where they said "illegal mining" was gaining steam. Yerevan qualified it as a provocation from the official Baku aimed to create a humanitarian disaster in the unrecognized republic.
