Talks with Azerbaijan on border situation to resume on May 16 – Armenia’s Defense Ministry

TASS, Russia
The Armenian side "yet again firmly asked the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to leave the sovereign territory of the country"

YEREVAN, May 15. /TASS/. Talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the border situation have not produced results and will continue on May 16, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported on Saturday.

"The Armenian side yet again firmly asked the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to leave the sovereign territory of the country and return to the initial positions without any preconditions in order to avoid the further aggravation of the situation and unpredictable consequences," the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces attempted to carry out "certain operations" in the Syunik Region in a bid to "redefine the border." The Azerbaijani forces ceased their activities after the Armenian Armed Forces took measures in response. Negotiations are underway in order to sort out the situation. Pashinyan stated that the Azeri forces had crossed the Armenian border and moved 3.5 kilometers deep into its territory. He branded the incident as an attempt against Armenia’s sovereignty.

Following the end of military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last fall, when seven regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh came under Azerbaijan’s control, the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan moved to the immediate vicinity of the Syunik Region.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.