On August 9, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece George Gerapetritis.
Minister Mirzoyan briefed his colleague on the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan's illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, stressing the importance of clear messages from the EU member states and the implementation of concrete steps, the ministry said in a readout.
Minister Mirzoyan emphasized that since June 15, Nagorno-Karabakh has been under a complete blockade, as a result the problem of supplying food, medicine and other essentials to the local population has greatly worsened. Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Azerbaijan, in violation of all norms of international humanitarian law, also disrupts the humanitarian activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only international humanitarian organization with access to Nagorno-Karabakh, endangering the lives of people in need of urgent medical assistance. Minister Mirzoyan added that in case of minimal possibility of transfer from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for medical treatment, accompanied by the ICRC, Azerbaijan carries out unacceptable acts of intimidation such as the abduction of Nagorno-Karabakh resident Vagif Khachatryan by the border guard service of Azerbaijan on July 29.
The importance of the immediate lifting of the blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the decisions of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6 was emphasized.
The sides also expressed readiness to take steps towards further expansion of bilateral partnership between Armenia and Greece.