The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh continues to worsen; the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan continues despite a February 22 interim ruling by the International Court of Justice. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government.

"Let me remind that with a legally binding decision, the [aforesaid] court obligated Azerbaijan to take all possible measures to guarantee the uninterrupted movement of peoples, vehicles, and cargo in both directions through the Lachin corridor. The court emphasized that its decision creates binding legal force for Azerbaijan," Pashinyan said.

"This decision of the court is not implemented. No people, no vehicles, no goods move through the Lachin corridor. Moreover, traveling of the Red Cross vehicles was also prohibited. These are important facts, which by themselves contradict Azerbaijan's arguments that the forces, countries speaking about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor are allegedly interfering in Azerbaijan's internal affairs," the Armenian PM noted.

"Failure to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice and ensuring the implementation of the court's decision is an issue of the international agenda, and the problem should be approached with this logic. It is important to record that the non-fulfillment and disregard of that decision has led to a humanitarian crisis [in Nagorno-Karabakh]," Pashinyan stated.

He added that everything is being done by Azerbaijan to make the life of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh impossible, and this is exactly the policy of ethnic cleansing about which Armenia has been warning for years.

"Our idea for resolving this situation is as follows: The legally binding February 22 decision of the International Court of Justice must be implemented. And this is a matter of the international agenda, including the matter of the UN Security Council because it is this body that is authorized to ensure the implementation of the decisions of the International Court of Justice," emphasized the Armenian premier.