ArmInfo. The blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor must be ended. This was stated on December 22 during a weekly briefing by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, when asked to comment on the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh due to the blockade by Azerbaijan of the only road connecting the republic with the outside world.
She recalled that Moscow has repeatedly repeated this position. "It is also necessary to resolve differences over the development of ore deposits in the region. The Russian Ministry of Defense and the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent continue to work on de-escalating the situation and, thanks to their efforts, gas supplies have been resumed since December 16, the movement of humanitarian vehicles, including ambulances, has been restored. And we expect resolution of the situation as soon as possible," she said.
At the same time, she called on the parties to strictly adhere to their obligations, in accordance with the well-known statements of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan. "They provide for the connection of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia through the Lachin corridor, which is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent," she concluded. On December 12 at 10:30 am a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway, again "for environmental reasons." Armenian telegram channels have already identified employees of the special services of Azerbaijan among the so-called ecologists. The Azerbaijanis are behaving loosely, trying to provoke Russian peacekeepers, and have set up a tent on the only road linking Artsakh with Armenia. The road remains closed to this day. The so-called Azerbaijani environmentalists, who were lit up in the photo with a demonstration of the symbol of Turkish "Gray Wolves" ultranationalists, said that they would remain on the road until the head of the peacekeeping contingent, Andrei Volkov, arrived. In addition, from the evening of December 13, Azerbaijan also shut off the valve of the gas pipeline through which gas is supplied to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The gas supply was restored three days later. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijanis who blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway changed their demands, and now they demand the control and activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan throughout the territory of the Republic of Artsakh. We add that the first provocations by the so- called environmentalists began on December 3 with the blocking of the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia.