BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 25. The claims of the Armenian side that Azerbaijan allegedly "blocked" the road, imposed a "blockade" against Armenian residents, and that a "tense humanitarian situation" arose, are unfounded, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said during a meeting with the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Azerbaijan Dragana Kojic, Trend reports citing the MFA.
Bayramov noted that the above assertions are unfounded taking into account the fact of passing more than 3,000 vehicles along the Lachin-Khankendi road in recent months, as well as other facts.
At the same time, it was noted that back in December 2022, the Azerbaijani side expressed its readiness, if necessary, to provide assistance to local residents of Armenian origin directly or through the ICRC.
The peaceful protest on Azerbaijan’s Lachin-Khankendi road against the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources in the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment has been going on since December 12, 2022.
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, the expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, faced provocations when arriving in the monitoring area. 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 the entire process from carrying on.