The EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to calm down before calling for the reopening of the Lachin corridor

June 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union has declared this Friday its concern about the upsurge in hostilities in recent weeks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and has also commented on its concern about the “almost total” blockade in the Lachin corridor.

The cities of Lachin and Zabuj were returned to Azeri control in August 2022 as part of the 2020 ceasefire agreement, which ended the Second Nagorno Karabakh War –after the 1994 war–. The conflict ended in victory for Azerbaijan, which recovered territories taken by Armenia in the First Nagorno Karabagh War, including the important city of Shusha.

Since then, both countries have maintained various contacts to try to sign a peace agreement, although the talks have encountered various obstacles, including the situation around the Lachín corridor, which connects Armenia with the self-proclaimed republic of Arstaj.

In April, the Azeri Border Guard announced the installation of a “border post” in the corridor, in response to the “transportation of Armenian personnel, ammunition, mines and other military equipment to illegal Armenian armed groups in Azerbaijan”, accusations rejected by Yerevan.

The area has the presence of Russian soldiers deployed as peacekeepers under the aforementioned ceasefire agreement.

“The EU has been closely monitoring the escalating tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in recent weeks, with daily shooting incidents along their international border, in addition to similar incidents at the Karabakh Contact Line,” the statement said. block in a statement.

“The almost total blockade of the Lachín corridor, in force since June 15, is very worrying, and directly threatens the livelihoods of the local population and raises serious fears of a possible humanitarian crisis,” added a spokeswoman for the Foreign Service of The EU.

“Following the series of recent high-level meetings, the EU remains engaged at the highest political level to help defuse these tensions and find mutually acceptable solutions,” he concludes.