BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 9. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has held a phone talk with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan told Trend.
During the telephone conversation, the sides discussed the agenda of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US, issues arising from the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the situation in the region.
Minister Bayramov noted that Armenia deliberately escalates the situation in the region using various pretexts, spreading such claims as "blockade" and "humanitarian crisis" in the region, which impedes the peace process. At the same time, he stressed that the ongoing claims of Armenia to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, its refusal to completely withdraw the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, its interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan are unacceptable.
He recalled that Armenia continues its provocations against the Lachin border checkpoint established by Azerbaijan on its sovereign territory, but despite this, the Azerbaijani side creates conditions for the passage of Armenian residents in both directions.
Bayramov noted that, despite the fact that Azerbaijan offered Aghdam-Khankendi road and other alternative routes for the transportation of goods, the Armenian side creates obstacles on the roads for the transportation of goods and opposes the transportation of goods along these roads, which once again proves that the allegations about the "blockade" and the "humanitarian situation" are political manipulation.
During the telephone conversation, the sides exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.