Provocations at the line of contact are extremely perilous and they will receive a harsh response, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan told Panorama.am.   

“The loss of each Armenian soldier is a loss for our entire people. I have always said that provocations at the line of contact are extremely perilous. I have also said that they will receive a harsh response. [And] The incidents in the recent days are yet another testimony of this,” noted Sargsyan.  

He added: “These provocations are either carried out upon the instruction of Azerbaijan’s leadership, or that country’s Armed Forces are out of the control of the command.” 

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict solution’s sole avenue is negotiations, and the settlement must proceed from the chance for implementing the self-determination right of the people of Artsakh [Karabakh], and the people must be made prepared for peace. [But] the Azerbaijani side continues to do just the opposite,” noted the President and added:     

“It is especially regrettable that the provocative operations were conducted on the day when a meeting was held in Moscow between the intellectuals of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and when the Secretary of State of the US—another [OSCE Minsk Group] Co-Chairing country—was in the South Caucasus on a regional visit.”     

“Armenia’s Armed Forces are instructed to demonstrate restraint and vigilance, [but] at the same time to prevent and punish any provocation by the adversary. I am confident that the international community and Azerbaijan’s people comprehend as to whose conscience the victims’ blood is on,” Armenia’s President said.