The military and political situation in the South Caucasus region significantly worsened in the past week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned on Thursday.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, he said it was triggered by the Azerbaijani military buildup along the Nagorno-Karabakh contact line and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

“The rhetoric of anti-Armenian hatred has intensified in the Azerbaijani press and propaganda platforms. The policy of encroachment on the sovereign territory of Armenia continues,” the premier said, referring to the September 1 Azeri attack which left three Armenian servicemen dead.

“This provocation was preceded and followed by the spread of false news by Azerbaijan about the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Armenian armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border,” he noted.

“Azerbaijan continues to illegally block the Lachin Corridor. The humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh has reached its peak. It is obvious that with these actions, Azerbaijan demonstrates its intention to launch a new military provocation against Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia. To justify such provocation, false and untrue theses are put into circulation.

“I think the situation is such that the international community, member states of the UN Security Council should take serious measures to prevent a new explosion in our region. At the same time, I emphasize the commitment of the Republic of Armenia to the agreements reached on December 14, 2021 in Brussels, October 6, 2022 in Prague, May 2023 in Brussels, as well as the trilateral declaration signed on November 9, 2020 by the president of the Russian Federation, the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.