The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has said that accusations against Russian peacekeepers in connection with the incident on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan are “groundless”, Tass reports.

Armenia's “strong dissatisfaction” with the incident involving Russian peacekeepers near the Hakari Bridge at the beginning of the Lachin corridor – the last remaining route linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh – was earlier conveyed to Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin on June 16. The ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry after an attempt by the Azerbaijani forces, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, to raise an Azerbaijani flag over Armenian territory, which left one Armenian border guard injured.

"The accusations against the Russian peacekeepers are absolutely groundless and unfounded,” Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday, June 22.

“We would strongly recommend reducing the degree of rhetoric in the media on this matter. The peacekeepers are working closely with the parties to normalize the situation, they clearly fulfill the tasks of stabilizing the situation, maintaining the ceasefire and hostilities in the zone responsibility.”

According to Zakharova, the incident is due to the lack of a delimited Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

"The Russian side has repeatedly called for the launch of effective and thorough work of the bilateral commission on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with our advisory assistance. We are ready to help determine the border in this area, which has become another bone of contention between the parties," the representative of the Russian diplomatic department said.