RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan gave a speech at the meeting with heads of accredited diplomatic missions in Armenia.

"As you are already aware, on September 13, after midnight, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack in the eastern and southeastern part of the Republic of Armenia, encroaching on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia. The aggression took place with the use of artillery, mortars, and anti-aircraft missiles, and not only the combat positions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border but also the Sotk, Vardenis, Jermuk, Goris, Kapan, Artanish, and Ishkhanasar settlements of Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions and there in the direction of civil infrastructures.

As of today, the Armenian side has 105 victims. Azerbaijanis share videos on social networks where new Armenian prisoners of war exist. In this context, the international community's reaction is essential to prevent the oppression, violence, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances applied to Armenian prisoners of war, as in the 44-day war.

It should be noted that the unleashed aggression was preceded by Azerbaijan's months-long belligerent rhetoric and statements questioning the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, the ambitions voiced at the highest level towards our sovereign territory, as well as the provocations carried out against Armenia in recent days.

Azerbaijan, by its style, accuses the Armenian side of starting large-scale provocations. Of course, I think that your knowledge of the region and the information at your disposal is sufficient to understand which side initiated aggressive actions. Still, I consider it necessary to draw your attention to the developments that occurred in the days preceding this large-scale aggression.

Starting from September 2, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has been spreading false information every day that the Armenian side opened fire in the direction of the Azerbaijani bases with weapons of different calibers. This information was officially denied by the Ministry of Defense of Armenia several times during those days.

We regularly received information about planes carrying military cargo from Turkey to Azerbaijan. And on September 5-9, the air forces of Turkey and Azerbaijan carried out a joint military exercise, the declared task of which was the destruction of air and ground targets of the conventional enemy.

On September 10, during a meeting with the General Staff, the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan instructed to be ready to immediately and sharply respond to provocations. He also gave additional instructions to improve the medical care of service members at the border with Armenia.

The logic of similar steps was also used in the period preceding the 44-day war in 2020.

Speaking about deeper reasons, it should be stated that Azerbaijan considers that Armenia should agree to all its conditions without negotiation.

During the meeting held in Brussels on August 31, Ilham Aliyev essentially stated in an ultimatum style that he was not going to talk with the Republic of Armenia about the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict because, according to him, there is no Nagorno Karabakh and Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the issue of Artsakh Armenians is The internal problem of Azerbaijan, which will be solved if desired, based on the Constitution of Azerbaijan. Naturally, this approach cannot be acceptable to the Armenian side. It is not similar to peace negotiations but is another manifestation of superstitious politics.

A similar picture was created in the work of the tripartite commission dealing with the unblocking of regional infrastructures and transport routes, where Azerbaijan is trying to get an extraterritorial corridor. The Armenian side has repeatedly expressed that it is ready to provide communication channels to Azerbaijan after clarifying the road transport regime, which should ensure the country's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the roads passing through its territory. At the same time, the implementation of the agreement reached on the resumption of the railway is hindered by Azerbaijan itself.

This aggression of Azerbaijan is a gross violation of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and international humanitarian law. In the geopolitical situation, Azerbaijan is trying to achieve its demands and aspirations by using force and threatening to use power.

With pain, I want to record that Azerbaijan's similar behavior is also the result of the previous one in 2021. to the aggressions since May, to the unaddressed statements of the international community. I thank all those countries that were straightforward in their accounts during these two days, and I expect a similar fair position from other partner countries.

The Republic of Armenia, taking into account the seriousness of the situation, has decided to use all the diplomatic tools to stop the Azerbaijani aggression and return the Azerbaijani army to its starting positions. Accordingly, Armenia appealed to the Russian Federation, the CSTO, and the UN Security Council.

At the CSTO Collective Security Council meeting yesterday evening, a decision was made to send the CSTO monitoring mission and Secretary General of the organization Stanislav Zas to Armenia. The current situation will be discussed at the session of the UN Security Council today.

We expect that Azerbaijan will immediately carry out the following actions: complete cessation of fire, the return of the Azerbaijani armed forces to their original positions, the release of Armenian prisoners of war."