Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that Azerbaijan not only continues the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, but also made another incursion into the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan not only fails to fulfill the decision of the International Court of Justice, but also escalates the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh more by taking steps aimed at blocking internal transport communication.

From the height of 20/54, the Azerbaijani side directly observes the dirt road connecting Stepanakert, Hin Shen, Mets Shen and several other villages,” Nikol Pashinyan said at the cabinet meeting.

He noted that Azerbaijan explains this with the transportation of military cargo and personnel from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. “This information does not correspond to reality. The information about the military transportations is a propaganda lie aimed to create legitimacy for a possible escalation.”

He stressed that Armenia is not transporting military cargos to Nagorno-Karabakh and that Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan rejected the proposal to send an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh in 2022 in Prague to verify this fact. However, this proposal is valid and there is a need to finally clarify this issue at the international level by sending a fact-finding group to the Lachin corridor and Nagorno Karabakh.

Azerbaijan sees preparations to subject Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to genocide, the Lachin corridor has been closed for more than 100 days now, gas and electricity supply has been stopped, citizens carrying out agricultural work are regularly shot.

We must consistently continue to inform the international community about this and work towards the launch of appropriate international mechanisms,” Pashinyan said.

Referring to the change of the route agreed with the Lachin corridor issue, he noted that in August 2022, according to the agreement between the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, the route of the Lachin corridor was changed with the operation of a new one.

“Since the road connecting the Lachin corridor to the Republic of Armenia was not fully ready, a temporary route was operated. It was entering the territory of the Republic of Armenia through the Kornidzor bridge, then again to the territory of Azerbaijan, and then to the territory of the Republic of Armenia. According to the reached agreement, this route is to operate until April 1, 2023.

The day before, we informed Azerbaijan that according to the agreement, after the Kornidzor bridge, the road will continue only through the territory of Armenia and that the Armenian border guard troops will take over the protection of the Armenian state border in that section.

As a result of all this, no change has been recorded in the Armenian positions, with the difference that the protection of that sector will be carried out by the border guard troops.

We proposed Azerbaijan to do the same. I hope that all this will take place without provocations,” Pashinyan concluded.