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Azerbaijan on Sunday established a checkpoint at the start of
the Lachin Corridor, the only road route linking Armenia to
Nagorno-Karabakh, in what Armenia called a "gross violation" of
a Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement between the two
sides.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of
Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians. In 2020,
Azerbaijan made significant territorial gains in a six-week war
that killed thousands on both sides, before Moscow struck a
ceasefire deal that included the dispatch of a Russian
peacekeeping force to the region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday there
was "no alternative" to the 2020 agreement and said Moscow was
working with both Baku and Yerevan over the situation.
"Russia is continuing contact, the situation is really
difficult," Peskov told reporters.
Russia is an ally of Armenia through a mutual self-defence pact,
but also has good relations with Azerbaijan.
While stopping short of directly blaming either side, Russia's
foreign ministry in a separate statement highlighted "the
unacceptability of any unilateral steps" in violation of the
2020 agreement.
Azerbaijan agreed in 2020 to "guarantee the security of persons,
vehicles and cargo moving along the Lachin Corridor in both
directions." Armenia says the establishment of a checkpoint at
the start of the road is a "gross violation" of those
commitments.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Mark
Trevelyan)
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