Azerbaijani & Russian foreign ministers discuss eco-protests in Karabakh, right to monitoring of mineral resources

On January 17, Azerbaijani and Russian Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Sergei Lavrov discussed on the phone the current issues on the agenda of bilateral cooperation between Baku and Moscow, as well as the ongoing situation around the Lachin road, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reports.

Jeyhun Bayramov stressed that the citizens of Azerbaijan have a legal right to protest against illegal economic activities, including the exploitation of natural resources and the abuse of the Lachin road in the territories of Azerbaijan where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is stationed. In this circumstance, he noted the need to fulfill the legitimate demands of the protesters.

The minister stressed that the claims about the alleged closure of the Lachin road by Azerbaijan, the blockade of Armenian residents living in the territory of Azerbaijan, and the creation of a humanitarian crisis are unfounded. In view of this, he emphasized that dozens of vehicles of the peacekeeping contingent, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Armenian ambulances pass daily along the Lachin road, which refutes the unfounded claims of Armenia.

At the same time, it was declared unacceptable for persons posing as "representatives" of Armenian residents living in Azerbaijan to prevent the use of the road by the population and thereby artificially try to create the impression of a "blockade" and a "humanitarian crisis".