Pashinyan insists on need for "mirror withdrawal" of troops from  borderline and its demilitarization

ArmInfo. Despite certain progress in the negotiations, Azerbaijan continues to pursue an escalation policy  on the border with Armenia, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a regular government meeting on May 18.

< There were shootings on our borders in previous days, there are  casualties. Bowing our heads to our fallen brothers, I want to  emphasize again that, especially against the backdrop of the  agreements reached on May 14, a "mirror withdrawal" of troops from  the border line, the demilitarization of borders, is becoming even  more relevant. The Armenian side will continue to insist on this>, he  said.

The Prime Minister considers the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor  to be another component of Baku's escalation policy. "This once again  makes obvious the legitimate need for an international presence in  the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh. We are discussing this  topic with all of our international partners>, the prime minister  said.

On May 17, at around 4:15pm, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces  opened fire on the Armenian position in the direction of Sotk, as a  result of which a serviceman of the RA Ministry of Defense was  wounded.  Then, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire in  the direction of an ambulance transporting a wounded soldier. As a  result, the paramedic was also injured. A serviceman who received  gunshot wounds incompatible with life on May 17 died on the way to  the hospital.