Attempts to Unblock the Lachin Corridor Could Lead to New Conflict with Baku: Zatulin

The refusal of Armenia to conduct military exercises with Russia is linked to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's desire to distance himself from Moscow and change the country's foreign policy orientation. This was stated by Konstantin Zatulin, the first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma's Committee on Commonwealth Affairs, in an interview with NEWS.ru.

According to him, Pashinyan is using the situation in the Lachin corridor as a pretext to change his political orientation. Zatulin emphasized that the Armenian Prime Minister justifies his decision by pointing to the lack of significant actions by Russia to support Armenians during the war with Azerbaijan in 2020.

At the same time, Zatulin believes that Moscow is unlikely to be able to side with Yerevan, which also did not demonstrate decisive actions. The politician noted that today's attempts to unblock the Lachin corridor could lead to new conflict with Baku, in his view.

“It is clear that due to our desire to avoid opening a second front because of special military operations and confrontation with Western countries, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are taking advantage of this situation. This is Armenia's attempt to justify its actions towards betrayal of Nagorno-Karabakh and the betrayal of Armenian-Russian relations that have developed over centuries,” emphasized the deputy.