Kyiv has long taken a pro-Azerbaijan position vis-a-vis the conflict with Armenia. Now officials say that Armenia and Russia are using the blockade to try to steal attention from Ukraine.
The president’s authority now looks desperately weakened, which means that if anything should happen to his 65-year-old father, a crisis of legitimacy could ensue. Our weekly briefing.
Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor comes as it accuses Armenia of dragging its feet over the fate of another critical route, the would-be Zangezur Corridor.
Armenia says the plan amounts to a territorial claim, while domestic critics say it is meant as a nationalist distraction to the country’s real problems.
Azerbaijan has long opposed reestablishing air transit to and from Karabakh, though, and argues that it is Armenians who are refusing its offers to allow traffic on the road to resume.