International partners do not believe Azerbaijan's claims that the Lachin Corridor is not closed, the head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA stated in the Parliament, summing up the winter session of February 23-24. Although the main topic in Vienna was one year of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Sargis Khandanyan notes that there were also speeches about the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and the European delegates once again mentioned that fact.
Sargis Khandanyan (Head of Armenia’s Parliament delegation to the OSCE PA) - The thesis of Azerbaijan, which it voices on international platforms that the corridor is not closed, so many cars have passed, the Red Cross is coming and going, it is possible to transport some goods through Russian peacekeepers, no one believes the talk about the corridor not being closed. That is, it is obvious, and to this is added the decision of the International Court of Justice, which once again confirmed the seriousness of the problem.
Regarding the peace treaty negotiations, according to Khandanyan, Yerevan has principled positions that derive from the country's sovereignty and independence. The Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations also referred to the statement made by the Russian Foreign Minister the day before. At the press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Lavrov literally said, let me quote, that the “European Union is abusing relations with Armenia, including by promoting the mission, which raises serious doubts from the point of view of legitimacy.”
Khandanyan believes that the deployment of the long-term mission stems from Armenia's needs.
Sargis Khandanyan - Those needs are that three times in 2021 and 2022, the sovereign territory of Armenia was attacked by Azerbaijan. And we, evaluating the two-month operation of the first mission, believe that it has a certain stabilizing role, and its long-term deployment along the border of Armenia can contribute somewhat to the formation of an atmosphere of peace in general and be an additional guarantee for security.
Armenia has no desire to become a theater of geopolitical conflicts and this is known, Khandanyan stated. According to him, colleagues are regularly, and through different channels, informed about the relations with other colleagues and their nature.
