YEREVAN. – If the adversary continues to maintain tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border this year, the actions by the Armenian Armed Forces will continue with the same severity, Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan told reporters on Saturday.

“The adversary [, Azerbaijan,] does not want to give up the ways of the actions it has adopted. They constantly want to create tension on the Line of Contact, not realizing that we [, the Armenian side,] see the primary option for the resolution of the issue solely by a peaceful way, through dialogue, [and] in a climate of trust.

“We ourselves have not wanted to create tension. There are no [border violation] attempts in recent days, but the number of shooting is too much,” the minister specifically noted.

In Ohanyan’s words, if the statements by international organizations have no bearing on Azerbaijan, the sole mechanism of deterrence is the actions by the Armenian Armed Forces.

“If you [, Azerbaijan,] don’t want peace, we [, the Armenian side,] are compelled to respond, to even give a severe response in many cases,” the Armenian defense minister added.