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The United States calls for the soonest possible restoration of free movement through the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told a press briefing on Friday.

“The closure of the Lachin Corridor has potentially severe humanitarian implications and, quite candidly, sets back the peace process,” he said.

“We’re pleased that natural gas to Nagorno-Karabakh has been restored. Disruptions to energy infrastructure could precipitate a humanitarian crisis, as I said. And we call on the restoration of free movement through the corridor as soon as possible, and the way forward to this is through negotiations,” the spokesman stated.

Asked whether a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan could be signed by the end of this year, Patel said: “I wouldn’t assign a timeline to it. This is something that you know that the Secretary [Antony Blinken] has a great interest in and has paid very close attention to, other senior leaders across the department have as well, and it’s something that we’re going to continue to remain deeply engaged on and get to cross the finish line.”