YEREVAN, November 16. /TASS/. The Armenian authorities are addressing Moscow with a call for protecting the country’s sovereign territory from attacks by Azerbaijani forces, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigoryan said on television on Tuesday.
"Since there has been an attack against the sovereign territory of Armenia, under the 1997 treaty we are addressing Russia with a call for protecting the territorial integrity of Armenia. A written request is being prepared," he said.
Grigoryan hopes that Russia will provide sufficient military assistance, if negotiations with Azerbaijan fail to produce results.
The treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Russia and Armenia was signed on August 29, 1997 for an initial period of 25 years. Its operation is automatically prolonged by ten years until either side requests its termination. The first presidents of the two countries, Boris Yeltsin and Levon Ter-Petrosian put their signatures to the treaty.
In November, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and border districts of the Syunik Region of Armenia worsened sharply. Both countries say there have been armed incidents, some resulting in casualties. On November 13, Yerevan and Baku accused each other of bombardments of each other’s military positions. Tensions have emerged along certain sections of the inter-state road connecting Armenia with Iran that were taken over by Baku under the November 9, 2020 statement by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan. A Russian border guard post was placed there to ensure the free movement of people and vehicles.