ArmInfo.Yerevan considers it wrong to present ultimatums to its partners, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated at a news conference in response to the accusations against Armenia's government that it is not taking effective steps to have the Lachin corridor unblocked, as well as to the rumors that Armenia's authorities have allegedly presented an ultimatum: either the Lachin corridor is unblocked by January 10 or Armenia withdraws from the CSTO.
Pashinyan once again noted that, according to paragraph 6 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, the Lachin corridor, which provides communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, and Azerbaijan guarantees the safety of movement of citizens, vehicles and goods along the Lachin corridor in both directions. At the same time, as the prime minister noted, within the framework of this statement, Armenia is not obligated to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of the Lachin corridor. The main responsibilities are assigned to Russia and Azerbaijan.
As the prime minister pointed out, despite the fact that the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping contingent was not signed by the Azerbaijani side, this does not mean that the document comes into force only after it is signed by all parties. According to the prime minister, Baku's actions in the Lachin corridor are aimed at breaking the will of the people of Artsakh to live in their homeland.
Nevertheless, as he assured, all statements and steps of Yerevan are of a public nature, in connection with which the republic will continue to use all the tools available in the diplomatic arsenal. In particular, as the head of the Cabinet pointed out, Armenia raised the issue at the UN Security Council.
The prime minister also recalled that in 2022, Yerevan provided unprecedented assistance to Nagorno- Karabakh in the amount of more than AMD 170bln (AMD 144bln were allocated in the state budget). Yerevan will continue this assistance, he said.