A regular Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Before discussing the issues on the agenda, Nikol Pashinyan made a speech, addressing the latest developments around the Lachin Corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, the ongoing provocative actions by Azerbaijan, and the issue of launching proper international guarantee mechanisms to ensure peace in the region.

In his speech, the Prime Minister of Armenia particularly noted:

"Dear participants of the Cabinet meeting,

Dear people,

The developments around the Lachin Corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia during the last week are as follows. Azerbaijan not only continued the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, but also carried out another invasion into the zone of responsibility of the peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The fact of the invasion was also recorded by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with an official message, which particularly says, "On March 25, 2023, units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, violating the first point of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, crossed the contact line in the Shushi region and occupied the 2054 height and started engineering works. The Azerbaijani side has been presented with a demand to fulfill the provisions of the trilateral declaration, to stop the engineering works and to return the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces to their initial positions," reads the message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Thus, we can record that Azerbaijan not only does not comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice made on February 22 of this year to remove the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, but also further aggravates the situation by taking steps aimed at blocking the internal transport communication of Nagorno Karabakh. From the height 2054, the Azerbaijani side directly observes the dirt road connecting Stepanakert with Hin Shen, Mets Shen and several other villages. Azerbaijan explains this by the alleged transfer of military cargo and personnel from Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh. This is completely untrue information, but if only this was the case, perhaps the issue would not deserve special attention.

The information about the military transportations is a propaganda lie, the purpose of which is to create legitimacy for a possible escalation. I consider it necessary to repeat again that Armenia does not carry out military transports to Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno Karabakh. To verify this fact, let me remind you that Azerbaijan rejected the proposal to send an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh during the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague on October 6, 2022. But that proposal is valid, and I think there is a need to finally clarify this issue at the international level, and the way to do it is to send a fact-finding team to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is a well-known fact that the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army operates in Nagorno-Karabakh. The existence and activity of that army is explained by one thing: Azerbaijan makes obvious preparations to subject the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to genocide. The Lachin Corridor has been closed for more than 100 days, gas and energy supply to Nagorno-Karabakh are stopped, Azerbaijani military regularly fires at citizens and agricultural equipment engaged in agricultural work in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's aggressive rhetoric continues. And we must consistently continue to inform the international community about this and work towards the launch of appropriate international mechanisms.

Dear Colleagues,

Dear people,

The next development about the the Lachin Corridor is related to the route change. As you know, as a result of the agreement reached between the authorities of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh in August 2022, the route of the Lachin Corridor changed with the launch of a new road. But since the road connecting the Lachin Corridor to the Republic of Armenia was not completely ready, a temporary route was launched that entered the territory of the Republic of Armenia through the Kornidzor Bridge, then again into the territory of Azerbaijan, then again into the territory of the Republic of Armenia. According to that agreement, this route was supposed to operate until April 1, 2023.

Yesterday, we informed the Azerbaijani side that, according to the agreement, after the Kornidzor bridge, the road will continue only through the territory of Armenia, and that the border guard troops of the Republic of Armenia will take over the protection of the state border of the Republic of Armenia in that area. I would like to emphasize that the border guard troops will be stationed at the state border of the Republic of Armenia in the same positions where the units of the Ministry of Defense were stationed until now. I have to record that a while ago information appeared in the Azerbaijani news, which tries to present what happened as another blockbuster, sorry for this formulation.

This approach is not constructive in the least. I repeat that no change in the Armenian positions has occurred as a result of all this, with the difference that we intend to protect the area in question, unlike before, through Border Guard troops. In other words, the change that takes place is as follows. from the same positions along the state border of the Republic of Armenia, the units of the Ministry of Defense will withdraw according to the plan, and units of the Border Guard troops will be deployed in their place. We made the same proposal to Azerbaijan as well, so that the same would happen on Azerbaijan's side. I hope that this process will take place without provocations.

Dear participants of the Cabinet meeting,

Dear people,

Against the odds, the Government of the Republic of Armenia tirelessly reaffirms its commitment to the peace agenda. We hope that in the near future there will be concrete movements in both Stepanakert-Baku and Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation formats. The Republic of Armenia is ready for that work, and we hope that in the Stepanakert-Baku format, there will be a similar willingness from both Baku and Stepanakert. It is clear, of course, that the launch of appropriate international mechanisms and gurantees is extremely important in this context.

Thank you."