A checkpoint has been established by Azerbaijan on the land connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan established a checkpoint on the only land link between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave on Sunday, which has triggered a strong reaction from its rival Yerevan.

This move has escalated tensions between the two ex-Soviet Caucasus nations that engaged in two wars over Azerbaijan’s Armenian-majority region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The state border service said, “The units of the Azerbaijani Border Service established a border checkpoint on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, at the entrance of the Lachin-Khankendi road.

” Baku and Yerevan previously went to war in 2020 and in the 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Under the Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 conflict, Azerbaijan is required to guarantee safe passage on the Lachin corridor, which Russian peacekeepers patrol.

Azerbaijan noted that it established the checkpoint on Sunday at 12:00 pm (0800 GMT) “to prevent the illegal transportation of manpower, weapons, mines.

” It added that the checkpoint “shall be implemented in interaction with the Russian peacekeeping force.”