The Armenian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday morning that the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s statement about Armenian units opening fire in the direction of Azerbaijani positions located in the southeastern part of the border area late on April 8 did not correspond to reality.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani ministry said that Azerbaijani army positions came under fire from Armenian positions located in the Goris region. It said that “the units of the Azerbaijani army took corresponding retaliatory measures.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry also said that Armenian army positions at two sections of the southern Syunik province came under fire from Azerbaijan late on April 8.
No casualties were reported by either side.
Reports of shootings along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have intensified in recent days. Armenia has described the actions of Azerbaijan as provocative.
In a weekend statement Armenia’s Foreign Ministry suggested that Azerbaijan tried to provoke the Armenian side into taking “countermeasures” that could be used for substantiating the “recent Azerbaijani disinformation” about Armenian truce violations.
It called on Baku to stop actions that could further escalate the situation at the border, stressing that Armenia is not interested in such escalation.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, put the blame on the Armenian side, accusing it of “aggressive militarization” and warning that Azerbaijan will “seriously oppose” threats in the region.
Tension along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border began rising after Baku denounced U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for deciding to hold a trilateral meeting with Pashinian in Brussels on Friday. It accused the Western powers of siding with Armenia.
Both Blinken and von der Leyen telephoned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ahead of the Brussels talks. Aliyev insisted on Friday that the talks are “directed against Azerbaijan.”
