The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border

As of September 29 at 22:00, there was no change in the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the situation is relatively stable, RA Ministry of Defense reports.

As a result of Azerbaijani provocation, the enemy managed to occupy several combat positions in the direction of Vardenis, which are not important from a tactical point of view but are important from a strategic point of view. Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Major General Arakel Martikian, informed foreign diplomats about this in Vardenis, addressing the question of what losses are there in that area.

Martikyan noted that the biggest territorial losses were in the Jermuk sector.

"We cannot say that they had a serious territorial advance here, they managed to occupy several combat positions. But those combat positions are not so important from a tactical point of view, but from a strategic point of view, because they directly depend on our settlements. They are able to establish certain control over our roads. And, most importantly, with their presence, they mentally and morally oppress the residents of the nearby villages," the Deputy Chief of the General Staff said.

On September 28, as a result of the Azerbaijani provocation, the soldiers who fell are lieutenant colonel Nahapet Margaryan, sergeant Hovhannes Sukiasyan and private Edward Hovhannisyan, RA Ministry of Defense reports.

The US is involved at different levels in the process of easing the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan - Ned Price

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price commented on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

"Ambassador Reeker has been actively engaged with his Armenian and Azeri counterparts. He was, of course, up in New York City last week with us, with the Secretary. He took part in the trilateral meeting he had – we had with Armenia and Azerbaijan. He’s recently been in the South Caucasus, meeting in person with senior officials there. So he’s been deeply engaged in this.

Yesterday’s meeting (in New York - Ed.), as I understand it, was a meeting between the national security advisors. We have engaged – the Secretary has engaged with his foreign minister counterparts. The Secretary has also engaged at the leader level with Armenia and Azerbaijan. So we are engaging at multiple levels, through multiple channels, to reinforce the need to de-escalate and to disengage," he said.

Turkish Security Council urged all involved parties to "contribute to the establishment of peace between Yerevan and Baku”

The National Security Council of Turkey urged all parties involved in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict to "contribute to the establishment of peace between Yerevan and Baku".

After the meeting held at the presidential residence under the leadership of Recep Erdogan, the council again expressed strong support to Azerbaijan, asserting that Baku is making great efforts to achieve lasting peace.

 "All countries, especially the states of the region, should sincerely contribute to the settlement of the problem, not to its escalation," the National Security Council of Turkey stated, without further details.

Peace cannot be forced - Tovio Klaar

Peace cannot be forced, Toivo Klaar, the EU's special representative for the crisis in the South Caucasus and Georgia, wrote on Twitter.

"Today there were again reports of three Armenian soldiers killed and one Azerbaijani wounded. These and many other senseless victims feed hate and instability. Security is only truly possible if borders are respected and troops don’t face each other at close distances. Peace cannot be forced," he wrote.

It is necessary to ensure a stable ceasefire and the withdrawal of all forces to their starting positions - Zakharova

Some non-regional role players are trying to bring instability to the South Caucasus, which has just been given a chance to come out of the crisis. They are trying to prevent the implementation of the agreements reached and to transfer the instability created in Ukraine to other parts of the post-Soviet space, which is a destructive approach. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, during the briefing, referring to the positions expressed by the USA and France in the conditions of tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"Russia continues to make active efforts to de-escalate the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Corresponding steps are being taken in the CSTO line as well. It is necessary to ensure a stable cease-fire regime and the withdrawal of all forces to their previous positions," Zakharova said.

Other News

• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Stanislav Zas, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. 

• Over the course of the recent Azerbaijani attack which began on September 13,  the Azerbaijani military gruesomely murdered captured wounded Armenian troops, abused the bodies of the dead with particular barbarism, and then photographed it and spread online, Major-General Arakel Martikyan, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces told foreign ambassadors during a meeting in Vardenis.

• RA Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan met with Deputy Defense Secretary Laura Cooper at the US Department of Defense.