A regular session of the RA government took place today, chaired by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Before discussing the issues on the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the UN Security Council session regarding the humanitarian crisis established in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor.
The Prime Minister, in particular, noted:
“Dear participants of the government session,
Dear people,
Yesterday, the UN Security Council held an urgent discussion regarding the humanitarian crisis established in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor. If we want to summarize the meeting, we can record the following.
First, the closure of the Lachin Corridor was emphasized at the highest international court. Of course, it may seem strange to the Armenian public that I am recording this due to the discussion in the Security Council. Still, we should remember that Azerbaijan constantly and continuously insists that the Lachin Corridor is open.
Second, the discussion in the UN Security Council confirmed the existence of a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the lives and safety of 120 thousand people of Nagorno-Karabakh are in doubt.
Thirdly, it was emphasized that Azerbaijan did not implement the decision of the International Court of Justice to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles, and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor.
Now we can record that the truth about the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor and the resulting humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh has been revealed at the highest international court. Also, a collective call was made by the international community to Azerbaijan to eliminate the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor.
Of course, this call has yet to be implemented, and 22 trucks with around 400 tons of humanitarian cargo are waiting to enter Nagorno-Karabakh at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is worsening day by day. At the same time, the people of Karabakh carrying out agricultural work come under fire from the armed forces of Azerbaijan, so they do not have the opportunity to harvest.
On the one hand, Azerbaijan has blocked the entry of 100 tons of flour by the Armenian government to Nagorno Karabakh; on the other hand, it does not allow the people of Nagorno Karabakh to collect their sown grain to have flour. This is another fact substantiating the thesis put forward by international experts that Azerbaijan is subjecting the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to genocide by subjecting them to starvation. Therefore, opening the Lachin Corridor should be considered a step to prevent genocide. I think the international community should focus on this perception.
At the same time, I must repeat what I said before that the best solution to the created situation is the removal of the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, the start of the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue within the framework of the international mechanism.
The Republic of Armenia, for its part, continues to reaffirm its commitment to the peace agenda and calls on the official Baku to refrain from steps aimed at nullifying the historic opportunity to establish peace.
