Armenia condemns Azerbaijan's deadly ceasefire violation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia "strongly condemns" the gross violation of the ceasefire by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the south-eastern section of Armenia's border on May 28, which left serviceman Davit Vardanyan killed, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 29.

"The provocation was preceded by the unconstructive, warmongering and expansionist statements of the President of Azerbaijan on May 27, which included aspirations towards the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia," the statement said.

"In this regard, we would like to remind that the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces illegally invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in the Sotk-Khoznavar area since May of 2021, and occupied an area of ​​more than 45 square kilometres."

The Foreign Ministry said similar provocations and incidents and regular ceasefire violations justify the need for a "mirror withdrawal" of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and the deployment of an observation mission in the area, which has been repeatedly raised by the Armenian side.

"Taking into account that the Commission on border delimitation and border security between Armenia and Azerbaijan has already started its work, this incident should be investigated and assessed by the commission," the Ministry said.

"At the same time, we would like to remind that the consequences of the previous gross violation of the November 9, 2020 statement as a result of which the Azerbaijani armed forces invaded the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh - in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, have not been eliminated yet.

"We consider it important that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, the CSTO, the European Union and the entire international community give an adequate and targeted assessment of Azerbaijan's provocative actions and statements, aggressive rhetoric aimed at undermining peace efforts in the South Caucasus.

"We call on the Azerbaijani leadership to refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric and implement its commitments of establishing stability and security in the region, undertaken by the Trilateral Statements, as well as meetings in Brussels."