The blockade of the Lachin corridor must be stopped immediately. Alexander Schallenberg, the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria, said this at the joint press conference following the meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Vienna on Tuesday.

"We discussed the situation in the region [of Armenia] with the Foreign Minister of Armenia, which is very important for us. It is true that Ukraine is now the center of attention of many people in the EU, but we should not ignore other regions of the EU's neighborhood, one of which is the South Caucasus. I am very grateful to the EU for its strong commitment to engagement in this matter, and I believe that the parties are moving slowly but in the right direction, which I hope will one day lead to a lasting peace agreement," said Schallenberg. He stressed that there is still there are many open issues to be discussed, among which are the release of detainees, the unblocking of regional transport routes, and the delimitation of border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Schallenberg particularly noted that the ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan is very worrisome.

"The blockade must be stopped immediately; this is Austria's position," he said.

According to the Austrian FM, he and his Armenian colleague discussed as well the matter of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, and he proposed once again that the representatives of the two countries can meet in Vienna if necessary.

"We talked also about the OSCE, which is an important platform and a regional organization that unites all players. It is a complex organization because there are disagreements within it, but it will be necessary in the future for the settlement of problems—from the South Caucasus to Central Asia. I believe we agree on the need to preserve this organization," said Alexander Schallenberg.