On Thursday, Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged accusations of firing at the border between the two countries located in the Caucasus, while intense international efforts are being made to calm relations between Baku and Yerevan, which have been fighting for nearly thirty years over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “Azerbaijan forces are firing artillery and mortar shells at Armenian positions in the Sotak region” in eastern Armenia.
She added that three Armenian soldiers were wounded in the shooting, stressing that the Armenian forces are taking “appropriate defensive measures.”
For its part, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense accused Armenia of firing “large-caliber weapons” at Azerbaijani positions on the border, considering it a “provocation”.
“Despite warnings about the need to put an end to provocations (…), the Armenian side once again violated the ceasefire regime,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that an Azerbaijani soldier was injured in Armenian gunfire on Wednesday evening, noting that “mortar shelling” continued on Thursday morning.
This comes while attempts are being made to ease tensions between the two neighbors and re-launch peace negotiations.
In this context, Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are supposed to meet Sunday in Brussels, according to the European Union, which will sponsor the meeting, after intensive discussions that lasted four days at the beginning of May in Washington between two delegations from the two countries.
