A few days after reaching a tentative deal on peace with Armenia, Azerbaijan on Sunday said that its military positions came under fire from that country.
A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that its military positions were fired upon by Armenian troops located near the settlement of Digh at approximately 9:45 a.m. local time (5:45 a.m. GMT). Armenia's Defense Ministry denied Baku’s claim in a later statement, claiming they do not "correspond to reality."
The incident is the second of its kind to be reported by Baku this month.
The report comes as both Azerbaijan and Armenia separately announced Thursday that they agreed on the text of the draft peace agreement, set to end a decadeslong conflict between the two countries and establish diplomatic ties between Baku and Yerevan. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and demarcation talks. In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after separatist forces in the region surrendered.
After years of stalled negotiations, both sides announced on Thursday that they had agreed on the text of a comprehensive peace deal and were prepared to sign it. This would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Türkiye all jostle for influence.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has recognized Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step toward normalizing relations. But he has faced a domestic backlash for making territorial concessions, including the return of four border villages to Azerbaijan last year. Baku has made clear its expectations that Armenia remove from its constitution a reference to its 1991 declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh. Any constitutional amendment would require a national referendum that could further delay the treaty's finalization. While Washington, Brussels and European leaders such as France's President Emmanuel Macron have welcomed the breakthrough, critics argue that the road to genuine reconciliation remains uncertain. The lingering distrust on both sides suggests that, even if a peace deal is signed, achieving lasting stability in the South Caucasus will require much more than diplomatic agreements.
