Azerbaijan’s establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process, Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said in a statement on Sunday, April 23.

“The United Statesis deeply concerned that Azerbaijan’s establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process,” the deputy spokesperson said.

“We reiterate that there should be free and open movement of people and commerce on the Lachin corridor and call on the parties to resume peace talks and refrain from provocations and hostile actions along the border.”

Azerbaijani authorities on Sunday set up a checkpoint on the only road connecting the Karabakh with Armenia. Baku also maintained that they have informed the command of the Russian peacekeepers and the Russian-Turkish monitoring center about the installation of the checkpoint.