The transfer of landmines to the territory of Azerbaijan is a blatant abuse of the Lachin road envisaged for exclusively humanitarian purposes, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday.

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov made the remarks while speaking at the Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers' meeting in Brussels, News.Az reports.

He pointed out that since August this year, 2,728 2021-Armenia-production anti-personnel landmines have been detected in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. “The minefield of newly planted Armenia-produced mines was already checked by the leadership of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the Joint Russian-Turkish Monitoring Center, as well as military attaches of the embassies accredited in Azerbaijan,” the top diplomat said.

“Apart from being a breach of peace and war crime in itself, the continued planting landmines cannot but undermine efforts for reconciliation after almost 30-year-long bloody conflict. The transfer of landmines to the territory of Azerbaijan is a blatant abuse of the Lachin road envisaged for exclusively humanitarian purposes,” FM Bayramov added.

News.Az