Armenia Urges Azerbaijan to Fulfill Its Commitments, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We strongly condemn the gross violation of the ceasefire regime by the armed forces of Azerbaijan on May 28 along the southeastern border of Armenia, which resulted in the death of an Armenian Armed Forces soldier, Private Davit Vahan Vardanyan. We express our deep condolences and support to the family members and loved ones of the fallen soldier. This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

It is noteworthy that this provocation was preceded by the destructive, militaristic, and expansionist statements made by the President of Azerbaijan on May 27, which included aspirations toward Armenia's sovereign territory.

In this regard, we would like to remind that the Azerbaijani armed forces illegally invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in the Sotk-Khoznavar section since May 2021 and occupied more than 45 square kilometers of land.

Such provocations and incidents, including the regular violations of the ceasefire regime on May 28 and previously, once again justify the necessity for the mirrored withdrawal of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and the deployment of a monitoring mission in the border zone, which the Armenian side has repeatedly voiced.

Considering that the commission for delimitation and border security issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan has already commenced its work, this incident should receive appropriate investigation and assessment by the commission.

At the same time, we remind that the consequences of the previous gross violation of the ceasefire regime established by the November 9, 2020 statement, which resulted in the invasion of Azerbaijani armed forces into the territory of the village of Parukh in Artsakh, located in the responsibility zone of the Russian peacekeeping forces, have not yet been resolved.

We consider it important that the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, the CSTO, the European Union, and the entire international community provide appropriate and targeted assessments of Azerbaijan's provocative actions and statements, and its aggressive rhetoric, which aims to disrupt efforts for achieving peace in the South Caucasus.

We call on the leadership of Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric, and to fulfill its commitments aimed at establishing stability and security in the region, as stipulated in the trilateral statements and the results of the Brussels meetings.