Toivo Klaar, the European Union's special representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, expressed concern over the continuing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh’s land link with Armenia as he visited Yerevan on Monday. 

"The situation around the Lachin corridor is serious, and solutions have to urgently be found. I look forward to discussions to explore ways forward. The EU's goal remains a comprehensive Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement,” he tweeted ahead of the meetings with Armenian officials.

On January 23, the EU diplomat met with Armenian Minister of Defence Suren Papikyan and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan. The officials discussed the Karabakh blockade and other "recent developments in the region." 

In a separate meeting with the Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, Toivo Klaar expressed concern over blocking the Lachin Corridor and stressed the need for the uninterrupted operation of the corridor. He noted that the EU is interested in ensuring stability and peace in the region and will continue to contribute to solving this problem. "Thoughts on the deployment process of the new EU civilian mission, as well as the Armenia-EU joint programs in the field of the institutional reforms, were exchanged,” the press service of the Armenian PM read.  

Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with David McAllister, the chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Relations, at the start of a working visit to Brussels. As reported by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, regional security and stability issues were discussed. Mirzoyan again charged that by blocking the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan is seeking to subject Karabakh's population to "ethnic cleansing." He stressed the need to increase pressure on Azerbaijan by the international community to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Armenian FM had a separate talk with the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, during a working visit to Brussels. The sides discussed current developments in the normalization process of Armenia-Turkey relations and regional and international security issues of common concern. Mirzoyan briefed the NATO chief “on the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan's illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, as well as the consequences of the ongoing policy of ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azerbaijani authorities,” the statement of Armenian Foreign Ministry read. 

Read also: European Parliament Urges Azerbaijan to “Immediately Reopen” Lachin corridor