The death of a serviceman of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army as a result of Azerbaijan’s crossborder gunfire was a provocation undertaken by Baku aimed at escalating the situation in the region and undermine agreements on reducing tension, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, June 11.

The statement also says that the incident occurred on the eve of the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to Armenia.

A Karabakh soldier, Vahagn Eloyan (b. 1992) was killed in Azerbaijan’s crossborder fire on Sunday. An investigation into the details of the incident is underway.

“The incident once again stresses the importance of implementing the trilateral agreement on the establishment and strengthening of the ceasefire of 1994-1995, as well as the implementation of the agreements reached in 2016-2017 on the introduction of a mechanism for investigating incidents on the contact line and enhancing the capabilities of the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan said.