VIDEO: We Have New Escalation in the Situation, Says Pashinyan

At the beginning of the government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the ongoing blockade of Artsakh, which has lasted for three months, and the Azerbaijani diversionary attack that occurred on March 5. “Under the conditions of the Lachin corridor being closed by Azerbaijan, we have a new escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Last Sunday, Azerbaijani Armed Forces units ambushed and attacked police officers heading for operational purposes. Three were killed, and one was injured.

This circumstance gains special significance against the backdrop of Aliyev's statement in Munich on February 18, 2023. He accepted that there exists an international agreement whereby they should discuss the rights and security of the representatives of the Artsakh Armenian population. However, Aliyev stated that they plan to hold these discussions with people who were born and lived in Artsakh.

On March 1, a meeting took place between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh, and just four days later, Azerbaijan carried out an act of provocation that can hardly be qualified as anything other than a terrorist act,” said Pashinyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan pursues several objectives with the March 5 terrorist act: “First, the objective is to thwart further negotiations with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and create a necessary background for a new military provocation. Second, they aim to create false evidence that weapons and ammunition are being transported from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. Third, through bloody terrorism, they intend to shape new narratives that will cover up a crucial fact, namely that Azerbaijan is not complying with the Hague Court's decision regarding the opening of the corridor,” the Prime Minister stated. In this context, the mission for an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor becomes urgent.