Armenia has called on Azerbaijan to investigate recent ceasefire violations along their shared border, amid rising fears of renewed hostilities between the two long-standing adversaries.
The appeal, made on Tuesday, follows a sharp increase in reports of cross-border gunfire incidents, threatening to derail progress towards a lasting peace. Both countries announced in March that they had agreed on the text of a peace treaty to end nearly four decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh — a region that once had a predominantly ethnic Armenian population.
However, since the draft treaty was agreed on 13 March, authorities from both sides have reported 26 violations of the ceasefire, with multiple incidents occurring on several days in the past month alone. In contrast, only three violations had been recorded in the five months prior.
The majority of recent accusations have come from Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev has also suggested that military action could resume if Armenia fails to sign the treaty.
Tensions escalated further on Monday when Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of firing at the border village of Khnatsakh, allegedly damaging a cultural centre. Azerbaijan has dismissed the claim as “disinformation”.
Addressing the Armenian parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urged Azerbaijan to investigate the incidents — either bilaterally or with the involvement of international observers.
According to an official transcript of his remarks, Pashinyan stated that the ceasefire breaches were “either a consequence of indiscipline in the armed forces of Azerbaijan, or are aimed at exerting psychological pressure on the population”.
“The Republic of Armenia calls on the Republic of Azerbaijan to investigate the mentioned cases and take measures to stop them,” he added.
Both nations routinely deny the other’s accusations, complicating diplomatic efforts.
Azerbaijan regained full control of Karabakh in 2023, prompting nearly all of the region’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee. Though both sides later expressed readiness to formalise peace through a treaty, progress has stalled.
Baku has said it will not sign the March draft until Armenia amends its constitution to remove a reference to Karabakh — a process that could take until 2026.
