Armenian Foreign Ministry comments on humanitarian situation in  Nagorno-Karabakh amid Azerbaijani blockade

ArmInfo. The Armenian Foreign Ministry commented on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh against the backdrop of the Azerbaijani blockade, which has been  going on for 25 days.  Thus, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Hunanyan, commenting on the  appeal of official Yerevan to the UN World Food Program in connection  with the situation in which the Artsakh Armenians are due to the  actions of Azerbaijan, in particular, stated: 

"From the very first day of the illegal blockade by Azerbaijan Lachin  Corridor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the relevant  state departments are in constant contact with various international  bodies to solve the problems caused by the humanitarian crisis that  has arisen in Nagorno-Karabakh."

It was said earlier in the RA MFA's commentary on the situation in  the Lachin Corridor: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws the  attention of international partners and all progressive humanity to  the fact that for more than three weeks, Azerbaijan has been keeping  Nagorno-Karabakh under blockade, thus grossly violating the Lachin  Corridor regime set by the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020,  and cutting off the lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia  and the rest of the world. For 23 days now, Azerbaijan, in front of  the entire world and continuing to pursue its policy of ethnic  cleansing, compels the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to a forced  displacement.

The humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh is worsening with each  passing day. The shortage of essential goods, food and medicine is  becoming more and more noticeable.  The danger of malnutrition is  tangible. Hundreds of families left on different sides of the  Azerbaijani blockade remain separated. 120,000 people in fact became  captives.  Azerbaijani claims that the Lachin Corridor is open are  absolutely groundless, which is attested to by the fact that only by  the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross the  limited number of patients in the event of life-threatening  situations are allowed to be transported to the Republic of Armenia.  

Under these circumstances, we highlight the importance of holding the  urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on December 20, 2022, which  was convened in response to the request of the Armenian side to  discuss the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and its humanitarian  consequences for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. We highly  appreciate the publicly expressed and clear calls by the vast  majority of the Security Council members to end the blockade of the  corridor by Azerbaijan and provide access to Nagorno-Karabakh for  international organisations. We also welcome the efforts of France  during the ten-day period following the aforementioned meeting of the  Security Council aimed at adopting the press statement of the  President of the Security Council regarding the situation.  

Armenia will continue taking targeted steps in all possible formats,  including within the framework of the UN Security Council and  international and regional structures, to ensure a resolute response  and actions arising from their mandate and functions, to bring an end  to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and the resulting humanitarian  crisis faced by 120,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh.  We also consider  it imperative to send an international fact-finding mission to  Nagorno- Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor to assess the humanitarian  situation on the ground, as well as to ensure unhindered humanitarian  access to Nagorno-Karabakh for relevant UN bodies.  Azerbaijan should  immediately unblock the Lachin Corridor in line with the principles  set in paragraph 6 of the November 9, 2020 Trilateral Statement,  which stipulates that Azerbaijan shall guarantee the safety of  movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo through the Lachin Corridor,  and that the Lachin Corridor shall remain under the control of the  peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation deployed in  Nagorno- Karabakh. Since the provisions of the Trilateral Statement  have been violated as a result of Azerbaijan's illegal actions, we  also expect the Russian Federation to undertake precise efforts to  eliminate this flagrant violation without any preconditions."