Armenia Responds to Azerbaijan's Accusations Amid Escalating Regional Tensions

The Armenian Foreign Ministry has responded to Azerbaijan’s statement issued after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s speech during the government sitting today.

The Prime Minister said that the military political situation in the region has considerably aggravated over the past weeks, noting that Azerbaijan is amassing troops along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in response that “Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s accusations that Azerbaijan is aggravating the military-political situation in the region and accumulating forces on the border are an integral part of Armenia’s false political manipulation.”

The Foreign Ministry emphasized the following:

• Azerbaijani users of social networks and media themselves published information regarding the accumulation of Azerbaijani troops near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and along the contract line in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is confirmed by information from other sources as well.

• In the above-mentioned speech, the Prime Minister of Armenia stated that Armenia is committed to the agreements reached on October 6, 2022 in Prague, October 31, 2022 in Sochi and May 14, 2023 in Brussels, which confirmed the mutual unconditional recognition by Armenia and Azerbaijan of each other’s territorial integrity. Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan and expects the same from Azerbaijan, which has not yet publicly confirmed its commitment to these agreements.

• Armenia is not interested in military escalation, it is now proposing mechanisms to exclude such risks, as it did previously, but until now has not yet received answers. Armenia is ready to discuss the introduction of other effective mechanisms as well.

• Armenia is ready to continue making active efforts to complete the work on the draft of the agreement on peace and normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and sign it as soon as possible.

• Armenia is dedicated and remains committed to the agenda of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, while emphasising the need for similar rhetoric and practical signals from official Baku.

• It is obvious that the blockade of the Lachin corridor, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and the absence of Baku-Stepanakert dialogue under an international mechanism do not contribute to the improvement of the atmosphere in the region