The provocative actions of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the night of April 5-6 have no excuse. By opening irregular fire on numerous sections of the border and moving dozens of military vehicles, Azerbaijan has clearly pursued a provocative goal: to incite the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia to take countermeasures in order to obtain facts that would “substantiate” the recent Azerbaijani disinformation.

After assessing the situation, the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia did not take any actions leading to further escalation, and the situation along the border calmed down.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia reaffirms that Armenia is not interested in escalating the situation in the region and calls on Azerbaijan to stop actions aimed at such an escalation.

We also consider Azerbaijan’s assessments on the creation of defence structures on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia unjustified since reforms in the army and army infrastructure is the sovereign right of any country. At the same time, we would like to remind that the proposals of the Republic of Armenia for a mirror withdrawal of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, the creation of mutual arms control mechanisms, the signing of a non-aggression pact and the demilitarization of territories adjacent to the state border remain unanswered.

The accusations against Armenia regarding the acquisition of weapons for defence purposes are also not understandable as Azerbaijan acquires many times more weapons than the Republic of Armenia, and Armenia receives comprehensive information about that.

We officially reaffirm the commitment of the Republic of Armenia to the peace agenda, as well as our proposal to Azerbaijan to create mechanisms for mutual arms control and demilitarization of territories adjacent to the border between the two countries.