Last updated: May 29, 2026
The Lachin Corridor — also known as the Berdzor Corridor for the Armenian town at its midpoint — was the sole road link between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Under the November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement, Russia was assigned to guarantee the corridor’s free passage with a peacekeeping contingent. Azerbaijan progressively tightened restrictions on the corridor beginning in late 2022, first through informal blockades and then through a formal chokepoint established in April 2023, cutting off food, medicine, and fuel to 150,000 Armenians in Karabakh.
The blockade lasted until Azerbaijan’s military offensive of September 19–20, 2023, after which the entire Armenian population of Artsakh was driven out of Nagorno Karabakh in what constituted ethnic cleansing, arriving in Armenia within weeks. The Russian peacekeepers who were supposed to guarantee the corridor’s operation did not intervene at any stage. The corridor’s closure and the international community’s inability or unwillingness to enforce the ceasefire terms became one of the central indictments of both Russia’s reliability as a security guarantor and the West’s capacity to protect small populations in post-Soviet conflicts.
Groong covered the Lachin Corridor blockade from its earliest stages through the eventual collapse of Armenian Karabakh, tracking the humanitarian situation inside Artsakh, the diplomatic efforts to reopen the road, and the legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice.
Episode 546 | Recorded: May 13, 2026
#ArmanGrigoryan #Armenia #Russia #Pashinyan #Artsakh #TRIPP #SouthCaucasus #Geopolitics
Episode 546 | Recorded: May 13, 2026
#ArmanGrigoryan #Armenia #Russia #Pashinyan #Artsakh #TRIPP #SouthCaucasus #Geopolitics
Dr. Arman Grigoryan joins Groong to discuss Armenia’s post-2020 foreign policy and his argument that Pashinyan’s government has replaced one failed project, maximalist claims over Artsakh, with another: a risky strategic pivot away from Russia and toward the West. The conversation examines “revolutionary recklessness,” the roots of the 2020 war, Armenia’s worsening ties with Russia, the surrender of Artsakh, TRIPP and Syunik, Western encouragement, and the absence of firm security guarantees. Grigoryan also considers whether Armenia is gaining real sovereignty or exposing itself to greater pressure from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia.
Episode 510 | Recorded: Jnauary 27, 2026
Episode 510 | Recorded: Jnauary 27, 2026
Episode 476 | Recorded: September 28, 2025
Episode 476 | Recorded: September 28, 2025
Episode 453 | Recorded: July 13, 2025
Episode 453 | Recorded: July 13, 2025