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President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Security Council attended by representatives of all the political forces represented in the National Assembly, the presidential office reported.

The meeting addressed the consequences of almost a month-long humanitarian crisis ongoing in Artsakh due to the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, and high-level political statements made in recent days in that regard. The Artsakh Security Coucil adopted a statement, the full text of which is provided below.

"It has been almost a month since a group of so-called eco-activists, with the full and outspoken support of the Azerbaijani authorities, blocked the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia. Thus, the Azerbaijani side has practically deprived the population of the Artsakh Republic of the only opportunity to communicate with the outer world, keeping the 120,000 population in a total blockade, with all the resulting humanitarian, healthcare and economic consequences.

The thoughts expressed by the President of Azerbaijan during the press conference held on January 10 of the current year proved once again that all this is nothing but an obvious manifestation of the threat of using force by the Azerbaijani authorities in the process of Karabakh problem settlement, which is a continuation of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of the Artsakh Republic in 2020.

Within the context of these realities, a number of statements and opinions expressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia during yesterday's press conference raised concern, since they do not correspond to the ideas of the national struggle, as well as the position of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic.

We are aware of all the consequences that follow the political line we have embarked on, and reaffirm our position that the sovereignty of Artsakh and the right to live freely and independently in the historical homeland are absolute values. No coercion or threat can deter us from our decision to continue the struggle.

In this regard, we appeal to the international community to assume responsibility for preventing the terrorist actions undertaken by Azerbaijan, the planned ethnic cleansing and the impending new genocide.

The people of the Artsakh Republic and the authorities are confident that the Armenians in the Diaspora will continue to support the decision made by their brothers and sisters in Artsakh, and urge the RA authorities to be guided exclusively by the position of promoting and advocating the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination in international institutions, using all the opportunities and all the tools of the internationally recognized state."