Hikmat Hajiyev: Lachin and Aghdam roads could be opened to aid simultaneously

Azerbaijan is ready to allow Red Cross aid from Armenia to the Armenian population of the Karabakh district of Azerbaijan if Red Crescent aid from Azerbaijan is let in at the same time, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, told Reuters.

He said the two roads - the Lachin and the Aghdam road - could be opened to aid simultaneously as part of a pilot scheme that could defuse tensions and spur long-running peace talks between Baku and Yerevan.

According to Hikmat Hajiyev, the idea had been discussed in a phone call between President Aliyev and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on September 1.

"There was a suggestion for the simultaneous opening of the roads and Azerbaijan agreed and immediately agreed," said Hajiyev, noting that part of the Aghdam road had been obstructed with concrete blocks by separatists in Karabakh.

"Now one week has passed since the telephone call with Secretary Blinken and there is no movement."