BAKU. July 21 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has criticized the speech given by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan concerning his recent meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.
"Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's speech at the government session on July 20 concerning the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Brussels, and the emphasis on claims that the Armenian side has repeated for the past eight months regarding the Lachin road, indicate Yerevan's intention to use this issue for its own political purposes and to prevent talks on the peace treaty, which progress has recently been made on," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
The Azerbaijani side set up the Lachin checkpoint in keeping with the norms and principles of international law and the legislation of Azerbaijan, it said.
"Having established the Lachin checkpoint over the past few months, Azerbaijan has ensured transparent and regulated passage for cargo and Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In this context, presenting the existence of the checkpoint as a road closure is an entirely incorrect approach," the ministry said.
Armenia is trying to disrupt the negotiation process, in view of the fact that it is not fulfilling its obligations to fully withdraw its armed forces from Azerbaijani territory, the ministry also said.
"The Azerbaijani side, 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 to the negotiation process. If the Armenian side is interested in peace, it should end its efforts that are impeding the peace process," it said.