The Azerbaijani side has closed off, for the second time already, the only highway connecting Artsakh to Armenia and the world—and with false and fictitious reasons. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan wrote about this on Facebook Monday.

"First of all, this aggressive behavior of Azerbaijan, through which it terrorizes our population and puts our vital rights and interests under attack, is highly unacceptable to us. This is an unprecedented challenge for our state and people. And I call on the entire society to unite and show calm, as one of the objectives of the Azerbaijani authorities is to incite internal division and panic in Artsakh.

The authorities and the people of Artsakh have clear values, principles and red lines, towards the protection of which we are making and will make all possible efforts—sometimes invisible.

We are convinced that the Russian peacekeeping contingent, as a guarantor of the safety of our people and the [aforesaid] road, will use all mechanisms to prevent such provocations and agreements’ violations aimed against the vital rights and interests of our people.

Other actors of the international community also have important work to do, as the actions of the Azerbaijani side grossly violate the well-known norms of international law, and Azerbaijan strives for ethnic cleansing and dispossession of the people of Artsakh of their homeland.

Artsakh was and will be Armenian—through our united and determined efforts—against all challenges," Harutyunyan added.