Azerbaijan's main goal is to drag Armenia into hostilities - Pashinyan

YEREVAN, September 19. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan's main goal is to drag Armenia into hostilities, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today.

"Today, a number of Azerbaijani mass media outlets have been disseminating false news reports alleging that their forces were striking Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately, this information is repeated by a number of our colleagues, who called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop hostilities. Armenia is not involved in hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and I want to note once again that Armenia has no army in Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan said in a live broadcast on Facebook.

Pashinyan noted that some political forces in Armenia and beyond are also seeking to drag Armenia into large-scale hostilities.

"Attempts to drag Armenia into large-scale military escalation are unacceptable. We should not allow these forces, people, including in Armenia, to jeopardize Armenian statehood," Pashinyan said.

In a statement Armenia’s foreign ministry urged Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh to intervene and stop Baku’s “full-scale aggression” against the local Armenian population.

Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Defender said two civilians were killed, including one child, after Azerbaijan launched a military offensive in the region. It also said at least 23 people have been wounded.

The European Council President Charles Michel urges Azerbaijan to “immediately” stop its military offensive.

“Devastating news coming from former Nagorno-Karabakh oblast today. Military actions of Azerbaijan must be immediately halted to allow for a genuine dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians,” Michel wrote in a social media post. 

According to the latest reports from Stepanakert,  Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have asked the Azerbaijani side to immediately cease fire and sit down at the negotiating table to settle the situation.-0-