MOSCOW 

Armenia's prime minister on Monday sacked his defense minister in the wake of border issues with neighboring Azerbaijan.

Nikol Pashinyan said that he dismissed Arshak Karapetyan and appointed Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan to the defense minister post, according to a government statement.

Pashinyan also discussed developments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and recent "border violations."

Last Wednesday, Azerbaijan said a provocation by Armenian soldiers along the border province of Lachin had been prevented.

Armenian soldiers tried to block the road between Azerbaijani army positions to start a conflict, said the statement, but they were surrounded by Azerbaijani soldiers, who forced their retreat.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

The fighting ended with a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.