BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 25. More than 1,000 vehicles have passed along the Lachin-Khankendi road, bringing supplies into the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, proving the opposite of what the US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on January 24, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada said on Twitter, Trend reports.
"It would be appropriate to call on the Armenian side to fulfill obligations and stop illegal activities!” Hajizada added.
At a briefing held the day before, Price called for the full restoration of free movement through the Lachin-Khankendi road, including commercial and private travel.
The peaceful protest of Azerbaijanis on the Lachin-Khankendi road against the illicit exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources in the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment has been going on for over forty days.
Previously, following the talks with the Russian peacekeepers' command on December 3 and 7, 2022, a group of experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC were going to begin preliminary monitoring of the illicit mineral resource exploitation, as well as emerging environmental implications on Azerbaijani lands, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, on December 10, 2022.
The expert team was expected to inspect the environmental condition at the 'Gizilbulagh' gold deposit and the 'Damirli' copper-molybdenum deposit, monitor various areas, organize cadastral property records, assess potential risks and threats to the environment, as well as to underground and surface water sources.
However, when arriving in the monitoring area, the expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, faced provocations. The planned initial inspection and monitoring did not take place due to the fact that the Russian peacekeepers not only did not create necessary conditions but also prevented for the entire process to carry on.