The Stratfor analytical center referred to the installation of an illegal checkpoint by Azerbaijan in Lachin. Azerbaijan's state border service on April 23 established a border checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with the Armenian-populated territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Eurasianet reported the next day. Many Western governments and politicians condemned the move and called to cease support for Azerbaijan.
The road has been blockaded since December 2022, but the establishment of a checkpoint demonstrates Baku's clear intention to tightly regulate all future traffic in and out of Nagorno-Karabakh. This development risks undermining the 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan cease-fire agreement, as the Lachin road was to be "under the control" of Russia's peacekeepers and Baku had agreed to "guarantee" the continuation of traffic along it in both directions. The lack of a meaningful Western response to the checkpoint may embolden Baku to continue regular violent cease-fire violations. Additionally, the Azerbaijani checkpoint is located right next to a base of Russian peacekeepers who are meant to be keeping the road open, further eroding the credibility of Russia and its peacekeeping contingent to uphold the 2020 cease-fire agreement.
On April 25, Col. Gen. Alexander Lentsov became the new commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, replacing Maj. Gen. Andrey Volkov, who had held the post since January 2022. On Feb. 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed during a visit to Baku that "the creation of any sort of checkpoints there [on the Lachin Corridor] is not envisaged."
