YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Armenia issued a statement in response to the statement by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense which said that the Armenian forces have positioned additional military hardware facing the Azeri troops on October 16.

“The presence of artillery measures in the direction of Vardenis is directly connected with the movement and deployment of additional forces and equipment by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which caused certain tension,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said. “The steps of the Armenian side, which were taken after the Azerbaijani deployment of additional artillery and anti-air measures in the given area, are exclusively of defensive nature. The actions of the Armenian side don’t seek to escalate the situation, and the Armenian side will pull back its additional measures in case of Azerbaijan pulling back the abovementioned measures from the given direction. The Armenian side is ready to negotiate over this issue.”