According to the Kremlin’s readout of the call, the two men focused on “the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, including issues of ensuring unimpeded traffic through the Lachin corridor.”
Putin stressed in that regard the need for “consistent implementation of the entire set of agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan reached in 2020-2022.” He also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to “provide practical assistance in the drawing up of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.”
The Armenian government’s press office issued an unusually short statement on Pashinian’s conversation with Putin. It said they discussed the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh caused by the “illegal blockade” and “ways of overcoming it.”
The Karabakh president, Arayik Harutiunian, said later in the day that Pashinian phoned Putin at his request. He discussed the results of the phone call with other Karabakh officials at a meeting in Stepanakert.
Harutiunian’s office did not disclose those results in a statement on that meeting. It cited Harutiunian as urging the international community to take “urgent and effective action” to improve the plight of Karabakh’s population.
“Given the alarming situation we face, the people and the authorities of Artsakh expect concrete results in the shortest possible time to alleviate the security and humanitarian situation and lift the blockade,” he said, adding that the authorities in Stepanakert are ready to “discuss and resolve all issues through civilized dialogue.”
Yerevan and Moscow traded barbs after Armenian border guards opened fire on June 15 to stop Azerbaijani servicemen from placing an Azerbaijani flag near a checkpoint controversially set up by them in the Lachin corridor in April. Baku denied that they tried to cross into Armenian territory and blocked the movement of humanitarian convoys through the corridor.
Videos of the incident showed that the Azerbaijanis were escorted by Russian peacekeeping troops as they crossed a bridge over the Hakari river in order to hoist the flag. The Armenian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in Yerevan on June 16 to express “strong discontent” with the peacekeepers’ actions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the Armenian criticism as “absolutely groundless,” pointing to the “absence of a delimited Armenian-Azerbaijani border.” The Armenian side countered on June 22 that instead of “looking for excuses,” Moscow should help to ensure the conflicting parties’ full compliance with a Russian-brokered agreement that stopped the 2020 war in Karabakh.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin discussed the matter with the Armenian ambassador in Moscow, Vagharshak Harutiunian, on June 26. It is not clear whether the Russian Foreign Ministry formally summoned Harutiunian to again hit back at Yerevan.
The ceasefire agreement placed the only road connecting Karabakh to Armenia under the control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and committed Azerbaijan to guaranteeing safe passage through it. Baku blocked commercial traffic there last December.
