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With the Lachin Corridor blocked by Azerbaijan for almost three months now, a new escalation of the situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has been recorded, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday, referring to Sunday’s Azeri attack which left three Artsakh police officers dead.

“Last Sunday, a unit of the Azerbaijani armed forces ambushed the police officers who were traveling from the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert, to the villages of Old Shen and Mets Shen in Nagorno-Karabakh in an UAZ passenger car. Three of the policemen were killed and one was injured,” he told a cabinet meeting.

“Offering my condolences to the relatives and comrades of the fallen police officers, I want to emphasize that all three of them were born in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“This factor gains special importance in the background of a statement made by the president of Azerbaijan at the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2023. And the president of Azerbaijan admitted in Munich that there is an international agreement, according to which they should discuss with the representatives of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh the issue of their rights and security. However, the president of Azerbaijan emphasized that they are going to hold these discussions with the people who were born and live in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the premier said.

Pashinyan recalled that the first meeting of the Artsakh and Azerbaijani officials was held at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh on March 1.

“Four days after the meeting, Azerbaijan undertook the mentioned provocation, which is difficult to call anything other than a terrorist act. Three citizens born in Nagorno-Karabakh, with families and three, two and one children in Nagorno-Karabakh fell victim to that terrorist act,” he said.