We Did Not Sign the Route Change and the Blockade is Not Related to the Route Change, Says Artsakh President

In the first phase, discussions were held regarding the route that should be taken. Azerbaijan had its proposal, Russia had its proposal, but in the end, our proposal was accepted. This was stated by the President of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, in an interview with Artsakh Public Television, responding to Prime Minister Pashinyan's accusation that the change of the route through Lachin was made independently by Stepanakert even before the Armenian authorities faced the facts.

“The selection of this route was to preserve our villages—the villages in the Berdadzor subregion—and had we accepted that road, we would have lost those villages. We have numerous justifications for why this route was selected, meaning the proposal from Nagorno-Karabakh was accepted, and ultimately, both Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan acknowledged it. Prior to this, Armenia had announced a competition, conducted project work; in other words, there was a general understanding from everyone regarding the route, and all sides accepted it,” he stated.

According to Arayik Harutyunyan, negotiations were ongoing regarding a timeline, and a supplementary agreement was supposed to be signed, but for various reasons, it was not signed. However, the President of Artsakh insisted that he possesses a letter from the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces stating that on August 5, the Russian peacekeepers would be forced to leave the former road and relocate their bases to the new route.

“This was in the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast; I mention the NAC because the Russian peacekeepers had a different status in the NAC, while in the territory of the corridor they were under another status,” he explained.

He emphasized that their main concern was to save the lives of their compatriots, which is why they asked the Russian peacekeepers to postpone their relocation by 20 days. During that 20-day period, they aimed to organize the relocation of Armenians to ensure they would not be left in the blockade, as they imagined the condition that would occur if the Azerbaijani forces entered Berdzor, Aghavno, and several hundred of our Armenians remained there.

The President of Artsakh stressed that the increase in the new route was signed by three leaders. “We did not sign the route change, and the blockade is not related to the route change.”