The Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting on Monday, during which the following statement was adopted:

On the night of September 12-13, 2022, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia with the use of large-caliber weapons, artillery, missile systems and unmanned aerial vehicles.

As a result of the aggression, 207 servicemen were killed and went missing, including three civilians killed, the whereabouts of two civilians are unknown, 293 servicemen and three civilians were wounded and 20 servicemen were taken prisoner. There is evidence of torture, martyrdom and thereby unlawful killing of captured or killed Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijanis.

The Azerbaijani armed forces shelled 36 settlements, including Goris, Sisian, Kapan, Jermuk, Vardenis, Tegh and Geghamasar communities and as a result 192 houses, 3 hotels, 2 schools, 1 medical center, 1 celebration hall and 4 barns were partly or fully destroyed. Seven power grid facilities, 5 water infrastructures, 3 gas pipelines, 1 bridge, 2 automobile roads and 1 street were damaged. Also 2 ambulances and 4 private cars were shot at.

The armed forces of Azerbaijan penetrated to the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in several directions. Thanks to persistent and heroic resistance of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia and involvement of international community the Azerbaijani attack was stopped, but the military and political situation remains tense.

Azerbaijan's aggressive policy is aimed at the disruption of peacemaking efforts in the region, opening of regional communications, comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and imposing of forceful solutions on the Republic of Armenia.

The Republic of Armenia, which has adopted an agenda of peacemaking and opening of regional communications, finds unacceptable the policy of threats and coercion pursued by Azerbaijan.

The Security Council declares that the Republic of Armenia will defend its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity by all available means. Azerbaijani troops must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia.

We call on the international community to put continuous pressure on Azerbaijan to end its occupation of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia and withdraw its troops, and we welcome all those countries and organizations that have taken a clear position.

At the same time we reaffirm the commitment of the Republic of Armenia to its obligations as a responsible member of the international community.