The Russian Defense Ministry on April 26 announced the appointment of Aleksandr Lentsov to replace Andrei Volkov, without providing a reason.
The announcement came hours after a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during which the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh were reportedly discussed.
A statement from the Kremlin said the discussion between Putin and Pashinian focused on “resolving practical tasks to ensure stability and security in the region.” It added that they confirmed the importance of observing previous agreements reached by Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Armenia has voiced increasing frustration that the Russian peacekeeping force deployed in 2020 as part of a Russian-brokered cease-fire to end a six-week war has failed to keep open the Lachin Corridor. Tensions have flared in recent months over blockades on the road by government-backed Azerbaijani protesters, and the availability of food in Nagorno-Karabakh has become acute due to irregular deliveries.
Lentsov is already in Nagorno-Karabakh, and on April 26 was to hold negotiations with the Azerbaijani side regarding the removal of a checkpoint that Azerbaijan set up on the Lachin Corridor on Sunday, according to Samvel Babayan, leader of Nagorno-Karabakh’s United Motherland party and former commander of the region’s defense army.
Babayan said it was time for the Russians to show their strength to make Azerbaijan honor its obligations regarding the corridor.
“If they [Russians] are unable to unblock this road, they will have nothing else to do but gather their things and leave [Nagorno-Karabakh],” the former Karabakh defense army commander told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Lentsov has served as an adviser to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and until 2020 was deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian military’s ground forces. Lentsov in 2014-15 was active in Ukraine as the head of a so-called joint center for cease-fire control, coordination, and stabilization in the eastern Donbas region.
His appointment comes three days after Azerbaijan’s State Border Service set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor on the border with Armenia. Prior to that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense accused the Armenian side of shuttling “continuing military supplies from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.” The claim has repeatedly been denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The Armenian side, for its part, accused Azerbaijan of seeking a pretext for isolating Karabakh Armenians.
Armenia said on April 24 that it would appeal to the International Court of Justice over Azerbaijan’s installation of the checkpoint, calling it a “flagrant violation” of Baku’s obligation to ensure free movement.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said the checkpoint was set up in response to “safety concerns in light of Armenia’s continued misuse of the road for the transport of weapons and other illegal activities.”