MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The situation in the South Caucasus is still tense because of Azerbaijan’s destructive policy and its avoiding the implementation of the November 9, 2020, trilateral statement on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, visiting Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Tuesday after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"Stability in our region is our strategy and we are ready for an active dialogue to attain this goal. However, the situation in the region is still rather tense, which is due, to a larger extent, to Azerbaijan’s destructive policy. I want to state that Baku is not fulfilling its commitments under the November 9, 2020, trilateral statement by the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani leaders, which was reached thanks to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s personal efforts," he said.
"Azerbaijan is making provocative steps, which are a direct infringement upon Armenia’s sovereign territory," he emphasized.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. Apart from that, a number of districts came over to Baku’s control.
The situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been tense since May 12, when Armenia’s defense ministry said that Azerbaijani armed forces had tried to carry out "certain works" in a border area in Syunik Province in a bid to "adjust the border. Since then, the sides have been reporting border incidents from time to time.
