A day after the United Nations Security Council discussed the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a challenge to the international community saying that countries should realize that the opening of the Lachin Corridor “will prevent genocide.”

Speaking at his weekly cabinet meeting, Pashinyan said that Wednesday’s UN Security Council session “exposed Azerbaijan’s lies.”

He said that the fact that Azerbaijan has blockaded the Lachin Corridor and as a result of which a humanitarian crisis is underway were important aspects to be affirmed by the international community through the UN Security Council meeting.

Pashinyan also noted that several country representatives emphasized the importance for Azerbaijan to adhere to the February ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered Baku to “ensure the unimpeded movement” along the road.

The prime minister said that, through the UN Security Council, the international community collectively called on Azerbaijan to end the blockade.

“Now we can note that the truth about the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor and the resulting humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh has been voiced in the highest international body. And the international community made a collective call upon Azerbaijan to end the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor,” Pashinyan said, explaining that Baku’s claims that a blockade is not taking place were exposed.

He added, however, that the affirmation by the Security Council has not yielded any results since “22 trucks with over 400 tons of humanitarian aid are still blocked at the entrance of Lachin Corridor, waiting for the chance to deliver the essential goods to Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Pashinyan also pointed to the ongoing targeting by Azerbaijani forces of farmers in Artsakh.

“On one hand Azerbaijan has blocked the 100 tons of flour sent by the Armenian government for Nagorno-Karabakh, and on the other hand it doesn’t allow the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to harvest their own grain for flour,” said Pashinyan.

“This is yet another fact that substantiates the narrative by international experts that Azerbaijan is committing genocide against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh through starvation, therefore the opening of the Lachin Corridor must be viewed as a step aimed at genocide prevention. I think the international community should focus on this matter,” Pashinyan told his cabinet.

The best solution of the situation would be the lifting of the illegal blockade by Azerbaijan and launching Stepanakert-Baku dialogue within the framework of an international mechanism, Pashinyan added, saying that Armenia is committed to the “peace agenda” and called on Baku to not take steps that would hinder this “historic chance for establishing peace.”