Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, January 13 that the Armenian authorities are going to need "strong nerves" to open an era of peaceful development.

Pashinyan told government members that more incidents with more casualties are happening on the border.

Three Armenian soldiers – Artur Mkhitaryan, Rudik Gharibyan (both born in 2002) and Vahan Babayan (b. 2003) – were killed in Azerbaijan's latest provocation on January 11, the Defense Ministry has said. Two other servicemen were injured in fighting.

"We have announced our policy, and I have said that one of our first tasks is to continue to increase our country's defense capabilities, but on the other hand I have said that we need strong nerves to open the agenda of peaceful development," Pashinyan said.

According to him, many are going to "try to prove" that it's not possible.

"We will move forwards on this way and we must do everything to create a stable and secure environment around our country, this is our most important political task, especially after the 2020 war and the 2021 snap parliamentary elections," he added.