BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 27. The situation regarding Azerbaijan’s Lachin-Khankendi road has been discussed with French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a press conference with the participation of Colonna, Trend reports.
"I informed the French foreign minister about the situation on the Lachin-Khankendi road in the period after the signing of the trilateral statement [by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], the illegal transportation of weapons by Armenia, the illegal arrival of third-country citizens, including terrorists, the plundering of the natural resources of Azerbaijani territories and their transportation along the Lachin-Khankendi road," Bayramov noted.
He also informed his French colleague about the transportation of mines from Armenia along the Lachin-Khankendi road and their installation on the territory of Azerbaijan.
"During the period after the signing of the trilateral statement, 294 citizens of Azerbaijan became victims of mines. Despite repeated warnings, the Armenian side did not respond to them. Azerbaijan also proposed the establishment of a border checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road, but Armenia objected to this as well,” the Azerbaijani minister reminded.
Azerbaijan decided to build a checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road to ensure transparency in the use of this road. The road is open and will continue to be open, Bayramov added.
In order to prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia for illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, and as an adequate response to the unilateral establishment of a checkpoint by Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22 at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, on April 23 at 12:00 (GMT+4), the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan set up a border checkpoint in its sovereign territories, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.