The United States again called for the complete restoration of free movement through the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s closure of the Lachin Corridor—now in its 24th day—the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia and the outside world, continues to concern the United States, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in response to a question from Armenpress.
“We remain concerned about impeded access to the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian implications of this situation. This sets back the peace process and undermines international confidence. We call for the full restoration of free movement through the corridor. The way forward for all issues is through negotiations,” Price said.
The State Department spokesperson did not directly call on Azerbaijan, which has been blockading Artsakh, to take steps to end it.
Price, on Tuesday, had spoken about the so-called “peace process” between Armenia and Azerbaijan saying that the U.S. “continues to engage bilaterally with likeminded partners like the European Union and through international organizations like the OSCE to facilitate direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia to find solutions to all outstanding issues relating to or resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
“Well, we continue to maintain our commitment to promoting a secure, stable, democratic, prosperous, and peaceful future for the South Caucasus region,” explained Price.
“As you know, there were a couple of occasions where the Secretary himself had an opportunity to bring together his partners, his counterparts, from Armenia and Azerbaijan. We did so once here in Washington at Blair House late last year. We did so once in New York City on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September. We will continue to do what, in our estimation, has the best prospects of moving forward that vision of a secure, stable, democratic, prosperous, and peaceful South Caucasus region. We, of course, want to see the parties make progress themselves. It is not for us to prescribe what a comprehensive solution to this conflict looks like. That is the hard work that the parties themselves will have to do,” Price explained.
“We have been routinely engaged, and we will remain very much engaged, with the parties bilaterally, trilaterally, through the OSCE, through other partners as well, to help bring about that end state,” Price said when asked whether the U.S. was planning to step up its mediation efforts.
