In the context of increasing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan proposed that Russian border troops be stationed along the border between the two countries.
As Pashinyan made the above remarks on the 29th, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of violating a Russia-backed ceasefire agreement. The two sides accepted the ceasefire agreement the day before, with the purpose of stopping a deadly conflict at the border between the two countries.
The TASS news agency quoted Pashinyan at a government meeting as saying, “Given the current situation, I think it is very meaningful to consider the deployment of Russian border troops along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
He also said that Armenia is preparing to discuss this proposal with Russia, which will allow border demarcation work without the risk of a military conflict.
The Armenian Defense Ministry had earlier stated that the Azerbaijani army opened fire on Armenian positions in the border area in the early morning of the 29th, prompting Armenia to fight back.
The ministry also pointed out in a statement that as of 7 am local time (03:00 GMT), the situation remained calm.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stated in a statement that the Armenian army used machine guns and grenade launchers to open fire and throw grenades at a village in the Kelbajar region, and Azerbaijani forces were forced to counterattack.
The Armenian minority army and the Azerbaijani army fought a six-week war last year in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region (Nagorno-Karabakh region) and surrounding areas. Since then, a series of serious border conflicts have erupted between the two sides. In the end, the two sides announced a ceasefire on the 28th of this month.
Armenia claimed that three soldiers in the country’s army were killed and two others were injured. Azerbaijan claimed that two soldiers in the country’s army were injured.
In the war that broke out between September and November last year, the Azerbaijani army drove away the Armenian minority army that had been controlling the Naka region and its surrounding areas since the 1990s, until Russia reached a ceasefire between the two sides.
The long-simmering border dispute between the two countries subsequently broke out. Both sides accused the other of infringing on each other’s territory in recent months, thus highlighting the fragility of the ceasefire agreement.
Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement reached in November last year.
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