Azerbaijan is deliberately escalating the situation by opening fire at the cemetery of the village of Khramort in Artsakh's Askeran region and killing a soldier on the border with Armenia, Artsakh State Minister Artak Beglaryan said on Tuesday.
According to Beglaryan, the provocations are primarily aimed at intimidating the Armenian population.
At the same time, Baku's attempts to discredit Russian peacekeepers deployed in Artsakh are obvious, he stated.
“The unprecedented Russophobic propaganda in the Azerbaijani media lately testifies to this,” Beglaryan wrote on Telegram.
"Russophobia is added to Azerbaijan's long-running state-sponsored policy of Armenophobia, which is, incidentally, against its military ally," the minister noted.
According to him, it once again indicates the workstyle of the Azerbaijani authorities to achieve geopolitical goals by planting hatred against other nations and distracting its people’s attention from domestic issues.
"One day, Azerbaijan will drown in its own hatred," Beglaryan said.