RA MFA Spokesperson Ani Badalyan referred to the statements made by Russian MFA representative Maria Zakharova on June 21 regarding the incident near Hakar Bridge on June 15.
It should be noted that Maria Zakharova stated that "the incident of Lachin Corridor is a consequence of the non-demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border."
"In response to the comment of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, I think it's necessary to mention the following.
The incident of June 15 took place not in the Lachin Corridor, as the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry notes, but in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, on the Armenian side of the Hakar Bridge.
There is an apparent contradiction in the interpretation of the Russian side. If, due to the lack of demarcation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is not possible to say precisely where the borderline passes, and this is the reason for the ongoing problems, as the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry claims, then the question arises, on what basis and principle was an Azerbaijani flag placed on this particular part of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan on this side of the bridge on June 15? By the way, let us record that this same thesis is regularly repeated verbatim by the Azerbaijani side when carrying out aggressive actions against the borders of the Republic of Armenia and invading the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
It needs to be clarified why Russian peacekeepers participated in that operation in Azerbaijan when the process's purpose and location were clearly outside the scope of the peacekeepers' functions and responsibilities. We'd like to remind you that the only relevant part of the Russian peacekeepers in that area was to keep the 5 km wide corridor of Lachin under control.
By the way, after the June 15 incident, the Azerbaijani side completely blocked the Lachin Corridor, as a result of which even humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine, were not transported to Nagorno-Karabakh, including even by the ICRC, and medical facilities from Nagorno-Karabakh are not transported to RA medical institutions, for critical patients needing appropriate medical care, gas, and electricity supply are disrupted.
In conclusion, we would like to call on the parties that signed the tripartite declarations of November 9, 2020, and other tripartite statements accepted by the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, instead of looking for excuses, to implement the commitments they made steadily," said the spokesperson of the RA Foreign Ministry.
