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Artsakh’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued a statement on the escalation of Azerbaijan's warmongering and aggressive rhetoric. The full statement is provided below.

"Recently, Azerbaijani state institutions and government-controlled media have launched a massive disinformation campaign aimed at misleading the international community and creating a pretext for new aggression against the Republic of Artsakh and its people. In particular, by creating and promoting false narratives against the Artsakh Defence Army, the Azerbaijani authorities, in fact, deny the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to self-defence and seek to deprive them of any means and opportunities to ensure their own safety and security in the face of the constant threats and military provocations of Baku against the civilian population of Artsakh.

Despite the fact that the Russian peacekeeping forces have never reported a cease-fire violation from the side of Artsakh, official Baku continues to falsely accuse the Artsakh Defence Army of shelling their military positions and, at the same time, intensifies aggressive and warmongering rhetoric, thereby creating information and propaganda grounds for new aggression against the Republic of Artsakh. This is also evidenced by the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities continue to consistently reject proposals to send an international fact-finding mission to Artsakh, including the Lachin Corridor, which would be able to assess the situation and present to the international community an objective picture of the developments on the ground.

Such undisguised military-political blackmail against Artsakh, including continued violations of the cease-fire, the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination, destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage, the total transport and energy blockade and the illegal establishment of an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor are unacceptable and constitute flagrant violations of Azerbaijan's obligations under the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, as well as the ICJ order of 22 February 2023.

It is obvious that such aggressive and destabilising actions of Azerbaijan are aimed, inter alia, at preventing the creation of conditions conducive to constructive dialogue between the parties based on the principles of equality and good faith and the resumption of the peace process to resolve the conflict.

Being encouraged by the complete impunity and permissiveness, the Azerbaijani authorities do not take into account any appeals or statements from the international community on the inadmissibility of such destructive actions and the need to resolve disputes through constructive dialogue. In this regard, we consider it unacceptable that the international community and, in particular, the Russian Federation, whose peacekeeping forces are stationed in Artsakh and under whose security guarantees tens of thousands of Artsakh citizens returned to their homeland after the 2020 war, leave Azerbaijan’s threats without due attention and response.

In this context, we reiterate that all responsible members of the international community and, in particular, the actors involved in the peace process, should not ignore or even encourage with certain statements Azerbaijan's violation of its international obligations, including the policy of ethnic cleansing against the people of Artsakh, which may escalate into an even larger crime against humanity. We believe that only a proper and unequivocal political assessment of Azerbaijan's actions, as well as specific and effective measures by the international community aimed at putting an end to these internationally wrongful acts, can create conditions for ensuring the rights and security of the people of Artsakh and establishing lasting peace and stability in the region."