News - Armenia’s FM calls on UN and Russian peacekeepers to take steps to stop Azerbaijan's aggression in Nagorno Karabakh

The Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement, saying that Azerbaijan has unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing. The ministry also called on international partners to take immediate steps to stop Azerbaijan’s aggression. The statement reads as follows:“On September 19, Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing. Guided by the feeling of impunity, Azerbaijan has openly assumed responsibility for the aggression. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has announced that it is starting "anti-terrorist measures" in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the area under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, about which, according to the official statement of the Azerbaijani side, the command of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as well as the Russian-Turkish monitoring center, have been informed. We strongly condemn Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and mass crime, which happened exactly three years ago, in 2020. It is the continuation of the large-scale use of force unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in September. Civilian settlements, the city of Stepanakert, other cities and villages are subjected to shelling by Azerbaijan under the empty pretext of "destruction of military objects". The Armenian side has repeatedly warned that the continuous aggressive actions of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, the unconcealed belligerent rhetoric, the absolutely false and reprehensible propaganda of calling the population of Nagorno-Karabakh "terrorists" pursues one goal: to subject the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing through the use of force, to deprive them of the right to live freely and with dignity and to create in its homeland. The illegal blocking of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, the Lachin Corridor, and the complete blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh have been pursuing the same goal since December 2020. Among other things, the attack was preceded by the dissemination of false information by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about mine laying and sabotage operations, which indicates the planning of the attack and the provision of the information field. We declare once again that the Armed Forces and military equipment of the Republic of Armenia are not stationed in Nagorno Karabakh, and all the news about mine laying and sabotage operations are false and fabricated. We call on the international partners, members of the UN Security Council with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, including the 2020 agreement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on the basis of the tripartite declaration of November 9, to the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh to take clear and unequivocal steps in order to put an end to Azerbaijan's aggression."