The Russian side is ready to organize the next round of negotiations between the heads of foreign ministries of the two countries on the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister said in a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart.
According to the press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov and Jeyhun Bayramov discussed ways to settle the situation around the Lachin Corridor. The importance of resuming the work of Armenian-Azerbaijan settlement by all means was emphasized on the basis of trilateral agreements of the heads of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
IT IS NECESSARY TO EXERCISE PRESSURE TOWARDS OPENING OF LACIN: HUQ
It is necessary to exert pressure towards an independent international investigation of the extrajudicial killings of Armenian prisoners of war and the reopening of the Lachin Corridor, said MP Rupa Haq during a question-and-answer session in the British House of Commons. The Minister of State for European Affairs of the United Kingdom, Leo Dockerty, also noted that Great Britain seeks a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Minister of State added that he spoke with the Foreign Minister of Armenia regarding the humanitarian situation, met with the Ambassador of Azerbaijan and stress the urgent need to reopen the Lachin Corridor.
“Start Fund, one of the main donors of which is the United Kingdom, plans to allocate 350,000 pounds for people affected by the situation,” said Dockerty.
REFERENCE TO ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI DEVELOPMENTS
The International Crisis Group referred to the situation in the South Caucasus, particularly the developments between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The analytical center writes that two years after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan seem to be moving towards a new confrontation, which is also a consequence of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“After the war, the balance of power changed even more in favor of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army enjoys the support of Turkey. Baku has also excited Europe's interest in Azerbaijani gas. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed within the framework of the 2020 ceasefire. Its purpose was to deter new attacks. However, in 2022, Azerbaijani troops occupied new territories in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as in Armenia itself,” says the analysis of the International Crisis Group.
The Center also expresses concern that the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan has reached an impasse, and Azerbaijan is trying to take what it can by force.
ANOTHER CASE OF CORRUPTION IN THE OIL SECTOR OF AZERBAIJAN
The Organized Crime and Corruption Perceptions Project has conducted a new investigation into corruption in Azerbaijan's oil and gas industry.
“As a result of the leak of some documents, it became clear that two Azerbaijani state companies planned to embezzle $1.7 billion from the project of the Shah Deniz 2 mine, which feeds the Southern Gas Corridor. For this purpose, the companies used false accusations and contracts,” the article says.
According to the analytical center, the British Petroleum oil and gas company was repeatedly warned in the 2010s that corruption frauds were being carried out in the project. The company, however, did not take any action.
At the same time, information was received that during the implementation of the project, the director of one of the state companies of Azerbaijan and his wife bought real estate worth more than $10 million in Miami.
“The EU uses Azerbaijan as an alternative to Russian gas, but this is done at the expense of the country's ecology and residents,” writes the Analytical Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime.
