Russian peacekeepers negotiate reopening of Khakari bridge blocked by Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, April 25. /ARKA/. The commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Andrey Volkov continues talks in a bid to make Azerbaijan reopen the Khakari bridge, where on April 23 Azerbaijan established a checkpoint.

The Azerbaijani checkpoint is situated on the bridge, just meters away from the Armenian border. Under the 2020 November 9 Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijani agreement that ended the 44-day war in the conflict zone, the Lachin corridor is policed exclusively by Russian peacekeepers.

"Negotiations on the reopening of the Khakari bridge continue with the participation of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops, Major General Andrey Volkov," Radio Azatutyun reported, citing Artur Harutyunyan, the head of the ruling faction of the Artsakh Parliament.

He said that the negotiations are being held separately with the Azerbaijani and Artsakh sides. However, according to him, the negotiations, which have been going on for the third day, have not yielded results yet.

After the 44-day war in 2020, the Lachin corridor has been under the jurisdiction of Russian peacekeeping forces as part of the Moscow-backed ceasefire agreement.

In December 2022, self-described Azerbaijani environmental activists, with the support of the government in Baku, blocked the road. Since then, only peacekeepers and aid convoys operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross were able to get supplies through to the 120,000 Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The local government had to introduce food rationing, while energy and gas supplies from Armenia have been periodically disrupted by Azerbaijan. -0-