British minister to visit South Caucasus to be conducive to resolving Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict

UK Minister for European Affairs Leo Docherty will pay a visit to the South Caucasus nations, Azernews reports.

During a meeting of the House of Commons of the Parliament, in response to questions from pro-Armenian MPs on the situation on the Khankandi-Lachin road and the alleged "blockade" of the road by Azerbaijan, the UK Minister of State for Europe and North America stated that Britain will work toward a peaceful resolution and the restart of negotiations.

"We insist on returning to negotiations and a peaceful settlement. In the coming months, I will go to the region for this purpose," he stressed.

Docherty emphasized that the UK will use every tool at its disposal to stop any outside influence from destabilizing the settlement of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

To recap, following discussions with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on December 3 and 7, 2022, Azerbaijani specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology, and Natural Resources, the State Service for Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company were to conduct primary monitoring on illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on Azerbaijani territory. However, the monitoring failed due to the provocation of ethnic Armenians.

After the Russian peacekeepers' failure to provide the necessary conditions for the Azerbaijani agency representatives to carry out their duties in the area, a group of eco-activists, NGOs, and public representatives have taken to the street in protest at the peacekeepers' repugnance to live up to their obligations in line with the November 10, 2020, peace deal to maintain peace and order in the region, and oust the Armenian troops from the region and prevent illegalities. However, time proved that the Russian peacekeepers are driven by the interests of Russia rather than the idea coming from the essence of the notion of peacekeeping as universally understood.