YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday, August 4, accused Azerbaijan of trying to walk away from the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020.
Speaking the day after two Karabakh Armenian soldiers were killed and 19 others wounded in fighting with Azerbaijani forces, Pashinyan also urged Russia to do more to prevent further ceasefire violations. He said that Baku has been stepping up such violations despite the presence of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh.
“In these circumstances, it is becoming imperative to adjust details of the [Russian] peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
“We expect that any attempt to cross the line of contact will be stopped by the peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation,” he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry effectively blamed the Azerbaijani side for Wednesday’s hostilities in Karabakh that reportedly involved Azerbaijani drone attacks and mortar fire. Its peacekeeping contingent intervened to halt the fighting.
The Azerbaijani army admitted striking Karabakh Armenian positions as well as a military base. It claimed that the attacks were launched in retaliation for the killing of one of its soldiers. The authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert insist that the Azerbaijani “aggression” was unprovoked.
