The United States on Wednesday called for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, while urging the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume peace talks.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the issue yesterday with Azerbaijani President Ilam Aliyev, his services said in a press release.

Mr. Blinken “insisted on the need to ensure the free movement of goods, humanitarian and private vehicles on the corridor,” according to the State Department statement.

The day before Tuesday, Baku announced the suspension of traffic in the Lachin Corridor, accusing the Armenian Red Cross of “smuggling”.

Since December, Armenia has been warning the international community against the risk of a serious humanitarian crisis in the separatist enclave, due to food and medicine shortages caused by the restriction of traffic in this corridor.

Mr Blinken also held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, expressing his support for peace talks between the two rival countries and stressing the need for “direct dialogue”, according to a separate press release.

He welcomed his counterparts in Washington in late June for talks between Yerevan and Baku and spoke of “progress”, but no deal was signed.

Peace negotiations are expected to take place within the month, brokered by the EU.

The two former Soviet republics of the Caucasus were involved in two wars, in the 1990s, when the USSR collapsed, and in 2020, over the control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

After the six-week war in autumn 2020, in which Azerbaijan recaptured territory controlled by Armenia for decades, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow.