“As previously stated by Azerbaijan, Armenia did not stop its provocations even after the 44-day Patriotic War, which ended the 30-year occupation of our territories, did not fully withdraw the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, and carried out the transportation of weapons, ammunition, and transferred and planted 2021-Armenia-produced landmines in Azerbaijan,” the statement read. "From 15:00 on March 5 and to 03:10 on March 6, the Azerbaijani army’s positions were fired on 19 times," it added. The ministry informed that it had to take “retaliatory measures” to counter the Armenian forces.
Armenia, on the other hand, refuted the claims made by its archnemesis. "The statement issued by Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry to the effect that on March 5 and in the early hours of March 6 Armenian forces allegedly opened fire on Azerbaijani positions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is disinformation," the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry asserted.
The two neighbouring nations have been struggling to deal with the border conflict for time immemorial. But one major conflict between the two nations surrounds the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast. The crux of the conflict between the two lies in the fact that while Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan, the region is home to 95% ethnically Armenian population. The ethnic Armenian forces allegedly backed by Armenia had controlled the region surrounding territories since 1994. Since then the two nations have had persistent animosities over the issue. In 2020, the two nations agreed to end the war, the whole ruckus left a widening road called Lachin Corridor as the only connection between Armenia and the autonomous region in Azerbaijan. The authorised corridor is a lifeline to the region’s 120,000 people. However, the corridor between the two nations has been blocked since December by protestors. The Armenian bloc believed that the protest was backed by Azerbaijani authorities.
Amidst the growing tension between the two nations, Russia expressed its concern over the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis and urged both sides to maintain restraint. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asserted that Russia is gravely concerned about the escalating tensions in the region. "We express serious concern about escalating tensions in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Multiple ceasefire violations were taking place over these past few days. An armed incident that took place on March 5 caused loss of life on both the Armenian and the Azerbaijani sides," the diplomat said as per the reports by Tass. "We are strongly urging the sides to exercise restraint and take steps to de-escalate the situation," she added.