YEREVAN, May 12. /TASS/. It has been a tradition with Azerbaijan to stage provocations ahead of every single round of negotiations with Armenia, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said at a news briefing on Friday.

"I have been employed with a Foreign Ministry office since 1995, and I don’t remember a single round of talks taking place without being preceded or followed by a provocation on the part of Baku," the senior Armenian diplomat lamented. "Unfortunately, this is quite a trend already," he added.

Despite the latest escalation of tensions on the border between the two former Soviet republics, a Moscow meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, slated for May 19, will take place, Hovhannisyan assured reporters. "To a certain extent, these negotiations will be in continuation of the Washington meeting, and yet each format has its specifics," he added.