Hikmet Hajiyev, President Ilham Aliyev’s foreign policy adviser, told Reuters that Azerbaijan is willing to let Red Cross aid from Armenia into the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region in exchange for Red Crescent aid from Azerbaijan.

Armenia has regularly accused Azerbaijan of blocking the “Lachin corridor,” the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, claiming that it has resulted in food, medication, and other vital shortages.

Baku says it restricted movement to thwart weapons smuggling, and that it has let the Red Cross evacuate people to Armenia for medical treatment. But it has not allowed food and other supplies in.

Hajiyev said in an interview on Thursday that Azerbaijan was now ready to let the Red Cross bring in humanitarian aid on condition that the Red Crescent also be allowed to bring in aid, on a different road from Azerbaijan.

He said the two roads – the Lachin corridor and the Aghdam road – could be opened to aid simultaneously as part of a pilot scheme that could defuse tensions and spur long-running peace talks between Baku and Yerevan.