Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a regular Cabinet meeting took place. At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister referred to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan's illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the blocking of humanitarian aid from Kornidzor to Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Azerbaijan's non-implementation of binding decisions of the International Court of Justice and the aborting of the peace process.

In particular, the Prime Minister noted.

"Dear participants of the Cabinet meeting,
Dear people,

The humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh continues to deepen and expand. Since December 2022, Azerbaijan has blocked commercial supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh by illegally blocking the Lachin Corridor. In other words, shops and pharmacies operating in Nagorno-Karabakh have had no external supply since December 2022.

Since June 15 of this year, Azerbaijan has also blocked the delivery of humanitarian goods to Nagorno-Karabakh, including baby food and medicine, including through the International Committee of Red Cross.

In the conditions of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh, the governmental commission of the Republic of Armenia for supporting the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the working group made a decision to send humanitarian goods to Nagorno Karabakh on July 26 of this year. 19 trucks en route to Nagorno-Karabakh remain stranded near the Lachin corridor in the Kornidzor village of Syunik region. I want to remind that those 19 trucks are loaded with the following goods. flour: 100 tons, pasta: 80 tons, sugar: 60 tons, vegetable oil: 40 tons, milk powder: 40 tons, salt: 20 tons, baby food: 12 tons, medicine: 9 tons, a total of 361 tons. This cargo containing has been certified to diplomats accredited in Armenia and can be reconfirmed at any time by inspection of trucks parked in Kornidzor for 16 days.

Later, two more trucks joined the humanitarian convoy: 9 tons of sweets, namely 1 truck from a company producing candies and cookies and 1 truck with a trailer with 25 tons of pasta from the Mayor of Paris and heads of the administrative regions of the Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts de France, Occitanie, Pays de la Loire.
No explanation is given to the blocking the entry of humanitarian goods to Nagorno Karabakh. As you understand, these additional trucks also have no access to Nagorno Karabakh.

If for a moment we do not consider this practice of Azerbaijan to block the entry of humanitarian goods to Nagorno Karabakh in the context of Azerbaijan's open policy of subjecting the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to genocide, that is, there is no other explanation if we put this circumstance aside. More precisely, the ban on the entry of humanitarian goods into Nagorno Karabakh confirm the statements about Azerbaijan's policy of subjecting the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to genocide. Indeed, opinions are being heard more and more loudly from international expert circles that Azerbaijan's policy of causing a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor can be viewed from the perspective 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 legally binding decisions of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6 of this year on ensuring the unimpeded movement of people, goods, and vehicles through the Lachin Corridor.

It is worth noting the fact that the highest international bodies confirmed in their recent statements that Azerbaijan's comments on the February 22 and July 6 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.

You remember that especially after the decision of July 6, Azerbaijan tried to present that with the decision of July 6, the International Court of Justice recorded that the decision of February 22 was fulfilled, and there is no need to refer to it. Meanwhile, something completely different was written in black and white. I personally read that decision. But Azerbaijan continued these comments and it was very important that international bodies, including high representatives of the United Nations, international partners recorded their attitude to the situation related to the Lachin Corridor in the context of decisions with legal binding force of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6.

Dear participants of the Cabinet meeting,
Dear people,

Even more so in these circumstances, I must record 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 official Baku to refrain from steps aimed at nullifying the historical opportunity to establish peace.

Thank you."