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The United States has again called on Azerbaijan to restore free traffic through the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia blocked by Baku for over eight months.

At a press briefing in Washington on Tuesday, U.S. Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that Washington remains “deeply concerned about the continued closure of the Lachin corridor, specifically its closure to commercial, humanitarian, and private vehicles.”

“The halting of this kind of humanitarian traffic, in our opinion, it worsens the humanitarian situation and it undermines the efforts that have been in place to build confidence in the peace process. And so we urge the Government of Azerbaijan to restore free transit of commercial, humanitarian, and private vehicles through this corridor,” the spokesman said.

“We’re also aware that the UN Security Council has a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, and we expect further discussions to take place there as well,” he added.

The U.S. official reiterated Washington’s position on Armenia-Azerbaijan talks, stressing that “direct dialogue is essential to resolving this longstanding conflict.”

“We think that any engagements that ultimately bring peace and stability to the people of the South Caucasus would be a good thing and a positive step forward,” Patel added.