ArmInfo. The United States is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's continued closure of the Lachin corridor. This is stated in the statement of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, the RFE/RL's Armenian servic reports.
" Yesterday's halting of humanitarian traffic exacerbates a worsening humanitarian situation and undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process. Free and open transit through the Lachin corridor must be restored immediately," the U.S. embassy added in a statement.
Earlier Azerbaijan accused the ICRC of allegedly transporting unauthorized goods to Artsakh, and under this pretext completely blocked the corridor, which had not been operating for more than six months. We add that the ICRC admitted that without the Organization's knowledge, four hired drivers, tried to transport some commercial goods (cigarettes, telephones, etc.), in their own vehicles which were temporarily displaying the ICRC emblem. These individuals were not ICRC staff members and their service contracts were immediately terminated by the ICRC. Thus, Azerbaijan is trying to strangle the people of Artsakh, which has been in a total blockade since December 12 of this year, deprived of gas, electricity and basic necessities. All this is happening against the backdrop of the inaction of the civilized international community, which, in pursuit of energy resources, forgot about the universal human rights promoted by itself.