The killing of a Defense Army serviceman of Artsakh a day before the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Armenia is a provocation aimed at escalating the situation in the region and failure of the agreements over de-escalations, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan said in a commentary, the ministry said.

“A Defense Army serviceman of Artsakh was killed as a result of gross violations of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact yesterday evening. We express our deepest condolences to the family and co-servicemen of the fallen [soldier].

We consider this step, on the eve of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair’s Armenia visit, to be another provocation of Baku aimed that escalating the situation in the region and failure of the agreements over the de-escalation of tension. This incident once again emphasizes the importance of the implementation of the 1994-1995 trilateral, termless agreement on establishing and strengthening a ceasefire, as well as the introduction of investigative mechanisms for incidents in the line of contact (agreement reached at the 2016-2017 summits), and implementation of agreements regarding the enhancement of the capacities of the OSCE Personal Representative of the Chairperson in Office team,” Balayan said.

Balayan reminded that the Armenian side has numerously said that the key for progress in the NK conflict settlement process is the formation of an atmosphere which will contribute to peaceful negotiations.

“Such actions of the Azerbaijani side, essentially, pursue an opposite goal”, he said.

“The Azerbaijani side is fully responsible for all possible consequences of this provocation,” Balayan said.

In another ceasefire violation committed by Azerbaijan, a 26 year old Artsakh soldier was gunned down yesterday at around 18:00. The soldier succumbed to his wounds while being rushed to a hospital.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will visit Armenia on June 13.