On July 12, the United States and the European Union reiterated their demand to remove Azerbaijan's blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh immediately. This came following Baku's recent decision to prohibit medical evacuations from the Armenian-populated region.

The Azerbaijani border guard service stated that the ban on medical evacuations was imposed due to incidents where individuals escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) attempted to “smuggle” items such as cigarettes, mobile phone screens, gasoline, and other goods. The ICRC had been facilitating the transportation of numerous patients from Nagorno-Karabakh to hospitals in Armenia after commercial traffic through the Lachin corridor was blocked by Baku in December.

“The United States is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's continued closure of the Lachin corridor,” the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement.

“Yesterday’s halting of humanitarian traffic exacerbates a worsening humanitarian situation and undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process. Free and open transit through the Lachin corridor must be restored immediately,” the statement added.

Similarly, the EU’s foreign policy spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, called on Azerbaijan to take measures to ensure the continued operations of the ICRC and prevent the potential occurrence of a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The EU strongly supports the crucial role of the ICRC in the region and reiterates its call for Azerbaijan to ensure the unrestricted movement of people and goods via the Lachin corridor," Massrali said.

Despite repeated statements from the United States, the European Union, and Russia regarding the Azerbaijani blockade, Baku has dismissed these claims and denied blocking the supply of essential items, such as food and medicine, which are now in shortage in Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, Azerbaijan has intensified the blockade by prohibiting Russian peacekeepers from delivering limited amounts of such items to Karabakh and blocking Armenia's electricity and gas supplies to the region.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry also expressed concern over the dire situation faced by the ethnic Armenian population in Karabakh, stating that they are at risk of starvation. The ministry accused Baku of deliberately creating conditions detrimental to the Karabakh Armenians' lives.