Azerbaijan has raised more fears of such an attack in recent days with daily statements alleging Armenian ceasefire violations along the border between the two countries. The Armenian military has flatly denied those claims, saying that Baku has not presented any evidence in support of them.
“In order to make such an assessment, I need intelligence data,” Papikian said, commenting on the risk of renewed fighting. “At the moment, such a phenomenon is not visible on the ground.”
“The Defense Ministry does not confirm media disinformation about the buildup and movements of [Azerbaijani] troops at the border,” he told reporters.
The minister did not explicitly deny reports that Armenian army units deployed outside Sotk, a border village in the eastern Gegharkunik province, came under intense cross-border fire overnight. He only cited a Defense Ministry statement urging media outlets not to spread “inaccurate, false and fabricated information related to the army and the border situation.”
Some residents of Sotk told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service they heard gunfire. But others claimed the opposite.
Kristine Grigorian, the head of Armenia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, also downplayed the risk of an Azerbaijani attack, saying that there are no corresponding “facts and signs” at the moment.
Grigorian also said: “The situation is changing rapidly. We are monitoring the situation.”
The Azerbaijani military began accusing Armenian forces of violating the ceasefire on March 16 three days after Yerevan accepted Azerbaijani proposals regarding the last remaining differences on the text of a bilateral peace treaty. Armenian commentators have suggested that the Azerbaijani claims are aimed at preparing the ground for military action against Armenia or bullying Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian into making more concessions.
As well as alleging the truce violations, Baku has repeatedly made clear this week that the signing of the peace treaty is conditional on a change of Armenia’s constitution and the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday complained about these preconditions and said the Azerbaijani side should reciprocate Yerevan’s “strong” commitment to peace.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry hit back at Mirzoyan on Friday. It said Yerevan should “try to eliminate the problems preventing the signing of the treaty” instead of criticizing Baku.