Azerbaijani troops opened fire today on Armenian army positions in the southern Syunik Province.

Armenia’s defense ministry reports that four Armenian soldiers were killed and one wounded near the town of Kapan.

The ministry denied Baku's claim that Armenian troops late on Monday fired on Azerbaijani combat positions along another section of the border.

Armenia’s foreign ministry accused Baku of resorting to “military provocations” to abort efforts to achieve stability and security in the South Caucasus and to restart negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.   

“We strongly condemn these actions of Azerbaijan resorting to military provocations and call on it refrain from steps that destabilize the situation and to return to negotiations. Once again, we reaffirm the proposals made by the Armenian side to implement reliable measures aimed at increasing border security,” reads a ministry statement.

The Kremlin called on Yerevan and Baku to “exercise restraint” following today’s border clash.

Kremlin spokesman Dmirty Peskov said such incidents hinder ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that Moscow will monitor the situation.