Emphasis by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his speech during the government meeting of July 20, on the claim regarding the Lachin road repeated over the last 8 months, while referring to the meeting held at the leadership level in Brussels, demonstrates the intention of Armenia to use this issue for its political purposes and to obstruct the peace treaty negotiations that have been progressing recently.

As it is well-known, Armenia has carried out illegal activities on the Lachin road after the Patriotic War with ample evidence left behind, and calls were made by Azerbaijan to cease them. As these calls were ignored, Azerbaijan established the Lachin border checkpoint based on the norms and principles of international law, as well as the internal legislation of Azerbaijan, and ensured the transparent and well-regulated passage of both goods and Armenian residents over the past few months. In this regard, presenting the checkpoint as a closure of the road is an entirely wrong approach. It is also known that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) unanimously rejected the appeal of Armenia regarding the removal of the checkpoint, and confirmed that this claim is groundless by its decision dated July 6. Armenia opening fire on the checkpoint on July 15, wounding a border guard of Azerbaijan, as well as its attempts at smuggling demonstrated its intention to continue aggression against Azerbaijan and the illegal activities it has carried out over the past 30 years, thereby confirming the necessity for the Lachin border checkpoint once again.

The fact that Armenia, while ignoring the statement of the President of the European Council Charles Michel on the importance of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for the transportation of goods proposed by Azerbaijan, rejects this road by any means possible proves that the claim of a "tense humanitarian situation" in the region is groundless and that Armenia intends to continue illegal activities on the territory of Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s claim that Azerbaijan is taking steps to carry out "ethnic cleansing" in the region is quite wrong and dangerous. Unlike Armenia, which committed massacres and carried out deportations against Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijan has never implemented a policy of ethnic cleansing against Armenian residents. The Prime Minister of Armenia putting forward conditions on the format of dialogue instead of promoting the reintegration of Armenian residents into Azerbaijan while recognizing Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan is considered a step against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and is unacceptable.

Regardless of the framework in which Azerbaijan and Armenia would carry out the delimitation of borders, it is clear that Armenia is trying to bring the process into failure, given that it does not fulfill its obligation to withdraw the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, continues to provide financial support to the territory, and emphasizes its territorial claims in various letters, statements, and speeches, therefore manipulations in this area are baseless.

Azerbaijan, as the initiator of the peace process with Armenia in the aforementioned areas, is interested in establishing peace, stability, and security in the region and is an active party in the negotiation process. If Armenia is interested in peace, it must cease efforts that hinder the peace process.