Top UN court orders end to Nagorno-Karabakh road blockade

Amsterdam, Feb 24, (dpa/GNA) – The UN’s top court on Wednesday, ordered an end to the blockade of a key road that is disrupting life in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague said Azerbaijan, must “take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”

According to the terms of a 2020 agreement, Russian peacekeepers control the Lachin Corridor, and Azerbaijan should guarantee the security of people and vehicles on the road.

Neighbouring Armenia had petitioned the court, after the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh corridor was blocked in December.

Armenia said food and medicines were running short for the approximately 120,000 Armenians living there, and people requiring medical treatment could not be transported to area hospitals.

The International Court of Justice also pointed to a ruling in December 2021, in which the UN judges had ordered both states to do everything possible not to aggravate the conflict and not to put people in danger.

Judgments by the court are binding.

The two former Soviet countries have contested the region, which lies in Azerbaijan but whose population is largely Armenian for decades. A war fought in 2020 resulted in 6,500 dead, according to estimates.

A ceasefire was negotiated in November 2020 with the mediation of Russia, but violence has repeatedly flared up.

GNA