10:03,
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The tension had reduced significantly in the direction of Sotk as of 10:00, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported.
The Azerbaijani military has been shelling Armenian positions near Sotk since 06:00, May 11.
Three Armenian servicemen have been wounded in the attack.
10:33,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The number of wounded Armenian troops in the May 11 Azeri attack has reached 4, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported.
The wounded troops are in non-life threatening condition.
As of 10:25 the tension in the direction of Sotk was reducing.
The situation was relatively stable in other parts of the border as of 10:25.
The Azerbaijani military has been shelling Armenian positions near Sotk since 06:00, May 11.
10:29,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Council President Charles Michel have discussed “opportunities for supporting a sustainable and durable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan” during a phone call, the U.S. State Department reported.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with European Council President Charles Michel. Secretary Blinken and President Michel reaffirmed U.S. and EU support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. They also discussed opportunities for supporting a sustainable and durable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a readout.
In turn, Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted: “Great to speak with European Council President Charles Michel today to discuss support for Ukraine, South Caucasus peace, and our deep transatlantic partnership.”
Armenia and Azerbaijan held foreign ministerial talks in the United States on May 1-4. Blinken participated in the opening and closing sessions of the talks. After these talks, the EU announced that a new round of talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan is planned for May 14 in Brussels.
The Azerbaijani military has been shelling Armenian positions near Sotk since 06:00, May 11.
10:45,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenian lawmakers have met with United States Congressman Frank Pallone, Nancy Pelosi and other members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus to discuss the democratic reforms in Armenia and the ongoing peace talks.
“Met with Members of the Armenia-USA Friendship Group, the parliamentary equivalent of the Congressional Armenian Caucus,” Pallone tweeted. “We had a great discussion about the democratic reforms taking place in Armenia, the ongoing peace talks, & ways to strengthen the US-Armenia relationship,” he added.
10:34,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Azerbaijan is explicitly disregarding the foreign ministerial talks held in Washington D.C., as well as the planned meetings in Brussels and Moscow with its latest aggressive actions.
Below is the full statement issued by the Armenian Foreign Ministry on May 11 after Azerbaijani forces attacked Armenian positions in Sotk.
“In the early morning of May 11 Azerbaijani armed forces, once again resorting to provocative and aggressive actions, opened fire on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia using mortars and artillery. There are wounded on the Armenian side.
These repeated violations of one of the fundamental principles of international law – the non-use of force or the threat of force – demonstrate contempt of the Azerbaijani side for the agreements, including the obligations assumed by the Trilateral Statement of Sochi on October 31, 2022.
These actions of Azerbaijan, aimed at destabilising the situation, are also an open disregard for the meeting held in Washington, the meetings planned in Brussels and Moscow, aimed at the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the efforts made by international partners interested in stability and peace in the South Caucasus.
We call on the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan to stop the groundless, unjustified and shameful attempts aimed at disrupting the negotiation process by using force and thereby exerting pressure on Armenia.”
10:52,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense is falsely accusing the Armenian military of planning an operation, the Armenian Defense Ministry warned on May 11.
In a statement, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said that the Azerbaijani allegation is a disinformation. The Armenian Ministry of Defense denied planning any operation.
Armenian positions near Sotk came under heavy Azerbaijani gunfire early morning Thursday. 4 Armenian troops were wounded.
As of 10:45, the situation was relatively stable, the ministry said.
11:26,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on May 11 that there is little chance of Armenia and Azerbaijan signing a peace treaty on May 14 in Brussels.
He said that despite the May 11 Azeri aggression against Armenia, he will travel to Brussels for a meeting with Azerbaijani leader Aliyev, as planned.
“First of all I’d like to answer a question. How likely is it for a peace treaty with Azerbaijan to be signed Sunday? Unfortunately, there’s very little possibility for that, because the draft bilateral agreement on peace and interstate relations still has a very preliminary form, and it is still too early to speak about signing it. On the other hand, we need to mature this document as soon as possible and prepare it for signing,” the Armenian PM said at the Cabinet meeting.
11:14,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. By escalating the situation in Sotk, Azerbaijan seeks to deviate attention from its illegally installed checkpoint on Lachin Corridor, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Thursday.
He said that the Azerbaijani side wants to deviate the attention of the international community and the Armenian society from the checkpoint, and make it go forgotten by creating a new crisis in a new area. Pashinyan said that this has been Azerbaijan’s tactics.
“They attempted to make the September aggression forgotten through blocking the Lachin Corridor with fake eco-activists, they attempted to make the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh forgotten through crossing the state border of Armenia in Tegh village, and then attempted to make the border trespassing in Tegh go forgotten through installing the checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. By escalating the situation in Sotk, they are attempting to make the illegal installation of the checkpoint on Lachin Corridor go forgotten. Despite Azerbaijan’s attempt, all these issues naturally continue to be in our primary agenda,” Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting on May 11.
PM Pashinyan attached importance to continual active communication with the international community on these issues.
4 Armenian troops were wounded when Azerbaijan launched an artillery and mortar attack near Sotk on May 11.
11:30,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on May 11 that by launching a new aggression Azerbaijan wants to annul the progress recorded in Washington and disrupt the planned negotiations in Brussels and Chisinau on May 14 and June 1 respectively.
“Today, around 06:00, units of the Azerbaijani armed forces launched intense artillery gunfire at military positions deployed in the direction of Sotk settlement of Gegharkunik Province, Republic of Armenia, striking the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. The intensity of the active artillery bombardment somewhat decreased after the adequate and effective countermeasures by the Armenian army. There are four wounded on our side, whom I wish speedy recovery,” PM Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting.
Pashinyan said that this provocation, along with other actions by Azerbaijan, seeks to annul the progress reached during the foreign ministerial talks on May 1-4 in the United States.
“Today’s provocation also seeks to disrupt the trilateral format talks in Brussels on Sunday, as well as the five-sided talks in Chisinau planned for June 1. Experience shows that Azerbaijan needs the negotiations process only for getting an argument for escalation and war, while escalations are used exclusively for nullifying any progress achieved in the talks. This is what’s happening now,” the PM added.
PM Pashinyan also said that the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s May 10 statements accusing the Armenian army of violating the ceasefire are false.
“They fabricate such information for escalating the situation. If escalation is not what Azerbaijan seeks, any local incident can be swiftly resolved through achieving a preventative agreement on clarifying and exchanging information through existing communications. No such thing happened yesterday for one simple reason, because there was no incident and the Azerbaijani disinformation machine fabricated this story with a past date for escalating the situation. While the main goal of escalating the situation is to nullify and negotiations progress and disrupt the course of future negotiations,” Pashinyan said.
17:01,
YEREVAN, 11 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 11 May, USD exchange rate down by 0.07 drams to 386.33 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.12 drams to 422.10 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 5.07 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 487.16 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 81.76 drams to 25303.03 drams. Silver price down by 0.62 drams to 316.98 drams.