Armenia again denies Azerbaijani allegations of violating the ceasefire

Armenia’s Defence Ministry has yet again denied Azerbaijani allegations of a ceasefire violation, just two days after Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov reportedly issued specific orders to the relevant officials to ‘ensure that the Azerbaijan Army units remain prepared to respond swiftly to any provocation at any time’.

In its official statement on Monday, Armenia’s Defence Ministry repudiated its Azerbaijani counterpart’s claim that ‘from the evening of 6 April until 04:30 on 7 April, units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on Azerbaijani combat positions located in the eastern and southeastern sections of the border’.

According to Armenia, these allegations did ‘not correspond to reality’.

Just two days prior, on 5 April, Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA reported that an official meeting was convened under the leadership of Hasanov, during which he emphasised the ‘importance of heightened vigilance during the organisation of combat duty’.

Though the first ceasefire violation claimed by Azerbaijan since 2 April, such allegations have been growing in frequency over the last two months.

Since 13 March, when Armenia and Azerbaijan separately announced they had agreed on the terms of a historic peace deal, Armenia has denied 19 ceasefire allegations by Azerbaijan.