The International Committee of the Red Cross hopes its humanitarian convoys will be able to resume in the weeks to come after aid was delivered to Nagorno-Karabakh for the first time in a very long time.

"We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian aid will finally receive much-needed support in the coming days," said Ariane Bauer, ICRC's regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

Her comments came after badly needed food and medicines were delivered by the ICRC to Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, September 18 along two roads simultaneously from Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"People are queuing hours for bread. They urgently need sustained relief through regular humanitarian shipments," she said, adding that deliveries had been made possible by agreement between the rival authorities.

“I hope that this consensus allows for our strictly humanitarian convoys to resume not just today but in the weeks to come so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it. Our aim is to reach those most in need of assistance in line with our fundamental principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population. On August 15, Karabakh Human Rights Defender’s office reported the first case of death from starvation.