Armenia again denies ceasefire violation as new round of army reserve exercises are approved

Armenia’s Defence Ministry has refuted another allegation of a ceasefire violation, its 23rd denial since the 13 March announcement that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed on the terms of a historic peace deal. The ministry has also denied Azerbaijani media reports that Armenia is holding training for reservists as a way to prepare for war.

This most recent statement responding to Azerbaijani ceasefire violation accusations was published Friday morning.

Accordingly, the Armenian Defence Ministry denied that units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire towards Azerbaijani combat positions located in the northeastern section of the border at around 20:55 on Thursday.

That day, the ministry also responded to a question by an Armenpress journalist, who asked about frequent reports by Azerbaijani media, claiming that the ‘25-day training exercises of reservists being held in Armenia indicate that the Armenian side is preparing for war’.

Ministry spokesperson Aram Torosyan highlighted that the training exercises for reservists is a ‘regularly held programme’, having been defined by law since 1991.

‘Training exercises have been held for a very long time, and initially they were held for a three-months period, but since 2023 the involvement of reservists is carried out for a 25-day period, which allows a more productive organisation of the training exercises in terms of timing and causes less “inconvenience” to involved citizens’, Torosyan told Armenpress.

He additionally noted that these 25-day training exercises have already been held for two years, ‘therefore this is nothing new and there is nothing unusual here’.

‘The training exercises don’t have any aggressive subtext and are a part of the normal training of citizens registered in the reserve and the military reforms, which is typical to the mandatory process of organising defense in all countries’, Torosyan said.

Earlier in March, the Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet Caliber wrote an article claiming that Armenia was ‘no longer hiding its preparations for a new round of confrontation’, citing the Armenian government’s recent decision to hold reservist training sessions between 1 April–13 June.

The Armenian government issued a decree announcing the dates for the training programme in 2025 on 6 March, but capped the number of days a reservist will be required to attend training to ‘no more than 25 calendar days’.

On Thursday, the Armenian government approved a new round of training exercises for military reservists to take place between 15 April–15 July, where each participating reservist will be called up for 25 days.

Azerbaijani pro-government media claims Armenia will launch war against Azerbaijan in April

Caliber claimed, citing ‘trusted sources’, that the ‘region is on the brink of another war, likely provoked by Armenia’.

OC MediaArshaluys Barseghyan