At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic on 16 June, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan would soon meet in Washington.

The Armenian leader expressed hope that some of the progress made at the previous rounds of talks in Washington would be developed. At the same time, he called attempts to aggravate the situation along the border unacceptable, especially after the parties had expressed their willingness to recognise each other's territorial integrity. Now, according to Pashinyan, it is necessary to take another step - to define the basis for the demarcation of the border and to start work on it.

Commenting on the recent clashes along the border, he said that Azerbaijan had imposed a total ban on the movement of people and goods along the Lachin Corridor. "Azerbaijan's illegal deployment of its checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor, the blocking of natural gas and electricity supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been going on for six months, has greatly aggravated the humanitarian situation in the unrecognised republic," the Armenian leader noted. It should be noted that on 15 June there was an exchange of fire between Armenian and Azerbaijani border guards at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor. As a result, one soldier on each side was wounded.

According to Pashinyan, if last month the Azerbaijani side partially ensured the passage of people and goods through the designated checkpoint for propaganda reasons, from 15 June it stopped doing so as well. "Even the supply of essential products has stopped, Azerbaijan does not allow the passage of people in need of emergency medical care," he added.

"These actions once again confirm our fears that Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Although in this case we are no longer talking about fears, but the beginning of actions. How else is ethnic cleansing taking place? The supply of food, gas and electricity to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is forbidden, people doing agricultural work are under direct fire, the passage of people in need of emergency medical care is forbidden," the Prime Minister listed.

"At the same time, the Armenian side insists on the importance of dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku within the framework of an international mechanism aimed at ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan stressed, expressing hope that concrete steps will be taken in this direction.