On January 17, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan delivered remarks at the OSCE Permanent Council special session initiated by Armenia. Armenian FM expressed hope that OSCE can play an instrumental role in achieving and sustaining peace in the region through the involvement of its structures. 

In his speech, Mirzoyan mentioned the achievements of Armenia in strengthening its democracy, human rights, and the rule of law and the process of successfully implementing large-scale reforms from judiciary to police, from fighting corruption to improving social cohesion and justice. Meanwhile, he asserted that the “recent war of aggression by Azerbaijan threatens Armenian democracy, undermining the efforts towards bringing peace, stability, and security to the South Caucasus region”.

Referred to the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mirzoyan stated: “Having the political will to normalize relations with Azerbaijan, the Armenian government engaged in good faith in talks with Azerbaijan in three separate tracks, namely, the opening of all transport communications in the region, delimitation and border security, and the agreement on normalization of relations or peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s approach to this process was non-constructive from the very beginning. Despite its clear commitment under the November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021, trilateral statements, Azerbaijan put forward the unsubstantiated demand for the extraterritorial corridor through the sovereign territory of Armenia.” 

Armenian FM assured that Armenia rules out any extraterritorial corridor on its territory and labeled the claims by the Azerbaijani side as apparent distortions and manipulation of the substance of the trilateral statements.

In response to Ararat Mirzoyan’s remarks, the United States Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said at the Special Permanent Council meeting: "The United States is gravely concerned that the Lachin corridor has now been obstructed for more than 30 days, creating critical shortages of food, medicine, and other supplies in Nagorno-Karabakh. These facts are indisputable. We call on Azerbaijan and Russia to restore unhindered transit immediately, keeping with prior commitments.”

According to the French Permanent Representation to the OSCE, France has reiterated its calls for immediate and unconditional restoration of the freedom of movement and security in the Lachin Corridor and respect for the rights of the local population. “France reaffirmed its commitment to support in searching for progress in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the purpose of establishing sustainable peace in the region, and readiness to contribute to the implementation of this goal by cooperating with all partners and stakeholder parties,” the French Permanent Representation to the OSCE added in a statement on Twitter.

As reported by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Russian permanent representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said at the OSCE Permanent Council Session that the Lachin corridor should remain under the control of the Russian peacekeepers. 

“The deteriorating humanitarian situation in the region causes serious concern. The population must not become a hostage of political disagreements between Baku and Yerevan. We urge our Azerbaijani and Armenian partners to demonstrate goodwill and jointly search for mutually acceptable compromises in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible, agree on the parameters of ore field development, and resolve problems with power supply,” Lukashevich said. 

UK Ambassador to OSCE Neil Bush also expressed concern regarding the situation at the Lachin Corridor and the associated humanitarian implications. 

“We regret that despite this issue being raised here at the OSCE and the United Nations Security Council, significant progress has not been made. We urge the Government of Azerbaijan to take all measures to allow for the unhindered movement of humanitarian goods and civilians. The United Kingdom acknowledges that both sides have concerns regarding the implementation of agreements made in relation to the 2020 ceasefire. We urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to undertake meaningful negotiations to find a sustainable and peaceful settlement that secures lasting peace and stability for the region,” he said.