Artsakh authorities on Friday blasted the United Nations for sanctioning its envoy in Azerbaijan to attend an event in occupied Shushi, calling it a “blow to the reputation of the U.N.”

The Baku authorities organized an event in Shushi to mark the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s membership in the U.N., with the organization’s envoy Vladanka Andreeva attending the event and taking part in a ceremony where the United Nations flag was raised alongside the Azerbaijani flag in the occupied city.

Andreeva said in an address at one of the events that “Azerbaijan was a country that came out of the [Karabakh] conflict with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons.” This statement alone contradicts the international community’s assertion that the Karabakh conflict is not yet resolved and brings further legitimacy to Azerbaijan’s aggression.

“Official Baku—in line with its strategy—continues to wage a destructive policy aimed at legitimising the results of its aggression against Artsakh, trying to involve and exploit the international community and various structures in that process. The organization in Artsakh’s occupied town of Shushi of a solemn ceremony dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s membership to the United Nations and the participation of representatives of the UN and its structures in this event is another manifestation of this policy,” said Artsakh’s foreign ministry in a statement on Friday, which also strongly condemned the having such an event in Shushi.

“The participation of the UN representatives in the event organised in a city, which has been one of the main targets of Azerbaijan’s aggression and Armenophobia, contradicts the principles of activities, ideology and mission of this influential international organization, and will be undoubtedly used by Azerbaijan to legitimise its inhumane and aggressive policy. This is also a serious blow to the reputation of the UN, which will have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the organisation’s activities,” added the foreign ministry.

At press time, Armenia’s foreign ministry had not commented on the situation. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, this week, said that Yerevan wanted to engage in “peace talks” with Azerbaijan “without preconditions,” despite the ongoing shelling by Azerbaijan forces of Armenian villages in Artsakh’s Askeran region.

Mirzoyan also said that the Artsakh issue was not a territorial one, but rather a matter that hinges on rights of individuals.