An extraordinary session of the Security Council was held under the chairmanship of Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during which the situation created in the Sev Lake area of Syunik Province and subsequent steps were discussed.
In his remarks, Nikol Pashinyan noted, in particular:
«Today’s Security Council session is devoted to the events taking place in the Sev Lake area of Syunik Province and the adjacent territory. This morning, Azerbaijani armed forces crossed the state border of the Republic of Armenia in that area and advanced up to 3.5 kilometres, essentially attempting to encircle Sev Lake:
Of course, these actions are unacceptable for the Republic of Armenia, because this is an encroachment on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and it is, of course, a subject of separate discussion why and how such an action became possible, but it must be recorded that this is, by its nature, essentially a diversionary (infiltration) crossing:
It must also be recorded that the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia have been responding to the unfolding events since early morning; necessary tactical movements and other actions have been carried out. But it must be noted that the actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces have not been accompanied by the use of firearms or any other weapons, and they are trying to justify their actions with certain maps, which, at our very first glance, are fabricated and false, because we still have at our disposal a map established between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan during the times of the Soviet Union, also approved by the central authorities, which clearly shows how the border line between Armenia and Azerbaijan runs:
Nevertheless, the created situation is unacceptable; the Republic of Armenia cannot simply reconcile itself with the created situation, but also, taking into account the circumstances, our primary plan is to resolve this issue through negotiations and also through diplomatic means. But this is one of the options:
I want us to clearly record that we cannot in any way tolerate or reconcile ourselves with the created situation, and today, at the Security Council session, we must discuss the current situation and our subsequent steps, the possible scenarios and the internal interconnections between those scenarios. I deem it necessary to emphasise that, as could unfortunately be expected, the situation is also becoming and has become an occasion for domestic political speculation. I want to call once again for attempts not to be made to use situations related to external security for domestic political purposes, because this is a matter of national security, and in the given situation we need to focus on the problem and its solution:
I again want to record that the information about shootings, exchanges of fire, combat operations, wounded and casualties has nothing to do with reality; on the other hand, however, it must be noted that the situation is at least near-crisis, if not to say crisis. And if it were not so, we would have no reason to convene a Security Council session. But in any case, in this situation we need to maintain composure; on the other hand, we need to be consistent from the standpoint of protecting our state and national interests, and today we must also make decisions regarding what is to be done and the subsequent toolkit»:
