Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan responded to the Azerbaijanis' closure of the Goris-Stepanakert road.

"Azerbaijani side closed the only highway connecting Artsakh to Armenia and the world for the second time with false and fictitious reasons.

First, the aggressive behavior of Azerbaijan, through which it terrorizes our population and puts our vital rights and interests under attack, is highly unacceptable to us. This is an unprecedented challenge for our state and people. I call on the entire society to unite and show calm because one of the goals of the Azerbaijani authorities is to incite internal division and panic in Artsakh.

The authorities and the people of Artsakh have clear values, principles, and red lines for the protection we are making and will make all possible efforts, sometimes invisible.

We are sure that the Russian peacekeeping forces, as a guarantor of the safety of our people and the road, will use all tools to prevent such provocations and violations of agreements against our people's vital rights and interests.

Other international community actors also have important work to do because the actions of the Azerbaijani side grossly violate the well-known norms of international law. Azerbaijan strives for ethnic cleansing and repatriation of the people of Artsakh.

Artsakh was and will be Armenian through our united and determined efforts against all challenges," Araik Harutyunyan wrote on his Facebook page.