Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan announced that a statement was adopted at the emergency session of the Security Council convened today.

"Dear compatriots, today I have convened an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss the issue of Azerbaijan blocking the Lachin Corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia and setting up a checkpoint. All members of the Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh have unanimously adopted a statement, which, in particular, says:

“Emphasizing that the entire people of Artsakh once believed in the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement of November 9, 2020 and the security guarantees provided by the Russian Federation and returned to the Motherland and started organizing a normal life,

Emphasizing that since the signing of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement, Azerbaijan has repeatedly violated various provisions of this document, killing the residents of Artsakh, occupying new territories, and since December 12, 2022, keeping the people of Artsakh under siege for 133 days, 104 days without electricity supply and 67 for days without gas supply,

Welcoming the position repeatedly expressed by the Russian government officials regarding the continuity and strength of the security guarantees for the people of Artsakh, as well as the inadmissibility of the establishment of an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor,

Deeming absolutely unacceptable the blockage of the Lachin Corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia, which is under the responsibility of the Russian Peacekeeping Brigade, and the installation of a checkpoint there by Azerbaijan on April 23,

Noting that with this step, the people of Artsakh have once and for all become hostages in the hands of Azerbaijan, with the growing danger of apparent ethnic cleansing, and that the further effect of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement is under serious threat,

We appeal to the parties of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement, and especially the Russian Federation, to immediately start discussions on lifting the blockade of Artsakh, preventing the establishment of an Azerbaijani checkpoint and providing real guarantees for the security of the people of Artsakh.

We expect effective steps to solve the security and humanitarian problems faced by the people of Artsakh in the shortest possible time, the absence of which will allow the government and the people of Artsakh to decide what to do next."