Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the following statement regarding today’s killing of Zohrab Sianosyan, a contract serviceman in the Armenian Armed Forces.

On March 10, as a result of ceasefire violation by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in the Nakhijevan section of the state borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Zohrab Sianosyan, a servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, was shot dead by a sniper fire. We express our deep condolences and sympathy to the family and the relatives of the private.  

This is yet another attempt of Azerbaijan to intentionally escalate the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border: on March 6 Azerbaijani armed forces attempted an infiltration in Tavush region of Armenia. 

Regular attempts by Azerbaijan to escalate the situation on the state border with Armenia, to expand the geography of escalation and refrain from applying the existing mechanisms of de-escalation attest to the deliberate nature of Azerbaijan’s attempts to undermine regional security and peace.

Such actions of Azerbaijan demonstrate that the establishment of international risk reduction mechanisms is an important priority of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, and the implementation of agreements reached in that regard is a necessary condition for the advancement of the peace process.