RA calls on Baku to refrain from steps to nullify the historical opportunity to establish peace. Pashinyan

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 historical opportunity to establish peace. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this today, at the Government session on August 11.

"The best solution to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh 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. RA, for its part, continues to reaffirm its commitment to the peace agenda and calls on official Baku to refrain from taking steps aimed at nullifying the historical opportunity to establish peace," he said.

Pashinyan noted that the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh continues to deepen and expand. "From December 2022, Azerbaijan banned commercial supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh by illegally blocking the Lachin Corridor, that is, the shops and pharmacies operating in Nagorno-Karabakh did not have external supply of their sales range at all from December 2022. From June 15, 2023, Azerbaijan also blocked the delivery of humanitarian cargo, including baby food and medicine, to Nagorno-Karabakh, including through the Red Cross. In the conditions of the humanitarian crisis, the RA governmental commission for support to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh made a decision to send humanitarian cargo to Nagorno-Karabakh on July 26 of this year, and 19 trucks destined for Nagorno-Karabakh are still standing in the Kornidzor section, near the Lachin corridor. Later, the humanitarian convoy was joined by 2 more trucks, which also do not have the opportunity to enter NK.

If for a moment we don't consider this practice of Azerbaijan, blocking the entry of humanitarian goods to Nagorno-Karabakh, in the context of Azerbaijan's open policy of subjecting the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to genocide, then there is no explanation if we put this circumstance aside.

According to Pashinyan, the ban on the entry of humanitarian goods into Nagorno Karabakh is made more reliable by the statements about the policy of Azerbaijan to subject Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to genocide.

"There are opinions from international expert circles that Azerbaijan's policy of causing a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor can be considered from the point of view of the December 9, 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. I believe that the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor has developed to the point that greater efforts should be made to provide an international legal assessment of the situation, especially since Azerbaijan continues to fail to comply with the International Court of Justice's order. "The legally binding decisions of February 22 and July 6 on ensuring the unhindered movement of people, cargo, and vehicles through the Lachin Corridor," Pashinyan noted.

He added: "The highest international courts confirmed in their recent statements that Azerbaijan's comments on the decisions of the International Court of Justice have nothing to do with reality, and that Azerbaijan is obliged to ensure the smooth operation of the Lachin Corridor."