Azerbaijan has continued its incessant insistence that Armenia is amassing troops along the shared border with the two countries, heightening calls from official Yerevan urging Baku to sign the peace treaty, an agreement over which was reached late last week.
Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan said on Thursday that Armenia continues to advance a peace agenda.
“As you know, all articles of the peace agreement have been agreed upon, and Armenia, under the Prime Minister’s leadership, has announced readiness to sign that agreement. We are also ready to launch technical discussions in terms of clarifying the day, time and remaining matters pertaining to signing the agreement,” Grigoryan said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to social media for the third time in two days to call on Azerbaijan to begin discussions on the date and venue of the signing of the peace agreement.
“Armenia is moving towards peace, not war,” Pashinyan announced on social media Thursday, adding that he had given clear instructions to the Defense Ministry to not violate the ceasefire.
“The draft peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been agreed upon and is awaiting signing. My instruction to the Ministry of Defense is clear—do not violate the ceasefire regime. Armenia is moving towards peace, not war,” the post reads.
“The draft of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement has been agreed upon and awaits signing. I propose Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to begin joint consultations on the signing of the agreed draft peace agreement,” Pashinyan said in another social media post, addressing Aliyev directly.
Azerbaijan’s latest accusations of ceasefire violations have increased concerns in Armenia that Baku is planning a military offensive. Since announcing an agreement on the language of the peace treaty last week, Azerbaijan has stepped up its demands for Armenia to change its Constitution. Beginning Sunday, Azerbaijan’s defense ministry began issuing statements—nine in total thus far—warning of Armenia military buildup along the border.
“The statement issued by the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan, alleging that on March 20, between 12:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on Azerbaijani combat positions in the eastern and southeastern sectors of the border zone, does not correspond to reality, the Armenia’s Defense Ministry has said in a statement Thursday.
“It is worth recalling that the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia has proposed the establishment of a joint Armenia-Azerbaijan mechanism for investigating ceasefire violations and related reports. However, Azerbaijan has yet to respond to this initiative,” the statement added.
“The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia reaffirms that, in accordance with the position of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, it stands ready to investigate the facts supporting the statement issued by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, should they be provided to the Republic of Armenia,” Yerevan said.
“As of now, the Republic of Azerbaijan has not provided the Republic of Armenia with any factual evidence or justification regarding the alleged ceasefire violations by the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia,” the statement added.
