After ten days of silence tensions have again boiled over on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The Armenian armed forces committed nine armed provocations on July 25, according to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.
According to the ministry, in two cases, the Armenian forces, from their positions in the direction of Saybali settlement, Garakilsa area of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Minkand settlement, Lachin district.
Another seven provocations were recorded on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed. Members of the illegal Armenian armed group from weapons of various calibers periodically fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of the Tartar, Aghdam, Khojavand and Khojaly districts.
In all cases, as a result of adequate response measures taken by the units of the Azerbaijani army, the shooting by the Armenian armed forces was suppressed, the ministry added.
The meeting between Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov was held on July 16 in Tbilisi. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described the Tbilisi meeting as the first step toward starting negotiations on a peace treaty between the two countries. According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the necessity of full implementation of all provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, in particular the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, was stressed at the meeting.
Earlier, the Armenian official has announced it will withdraw all remaining military units from Nagorno-Karabakh by June. The issue remains unresolved. Armenia is delaying the process, promising to withdraw all remaining military units by September.
As the top leadership of the country has repeatedly emphasized, Azerbaijan has long been ready for peace, the commission for the preparation of a peace treaty has been formed. Baku is waiting for a similar step from Yerevan.
Today, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Aghajanyan said that negotiations are underway to hold a meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan. However, no date for the meeting has been announced.
