What to Expect from Negotiations to Open the Hakar Bridge: 'Hraparak'

Negotiations to open the Hakar Bridge continued yesterday with the participation of Russian peacekeeping commander Major General Andrey Volkov, despite his impending departure from Artsakh. The Russians have separately negotiated with both the Azerbaijani and Artsakh sides, yet there has been no result for the third consecutive day.

On the contrary, Azerbaijan placed a sign at the checkpoint of the Lachin corridor yesterday stating: "Attention, you are entering the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan."

This is reported by the daily newspaper 'Hraparak'. According to the November 9 statement, the Lachin corridor is under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Azerbaijan closed the Lachin corridor on Sunday in exactly the area where Russian peacekeepers are stationed, and they did not prevent the closure of the Hakar Bridge by Azerbaijani trucks and military vehicles. The Russian Foreign Ministry declared that any change in the regime of the Lachin corridor is unacceptable.

In Artsakh, there is a belief that Azerbaijanis will not abandon the idea of a checkpoint. The only thing the Russians will try to achieve is that not only Azerbaijanis are stationed at the checkpoint but also Russian peacekeepers, in a joint deployment. It should be noted that official Baku has stated that the installation of a checkpoint in Lachin is legal, in accordance with international law, and that in Prague and Sochi, Armenia recognized Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.