Armenian, Azerbaijani delegations continue working on peace agreement in U.S. - Pashinyan

YEREVAN. June 29 (Interfax) - Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations are working on the text of a bilateral peace agreement in Washington, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

"An Armenian delegation led by the foreign minister is in talks with an Azerbaijani delegation in Washington to agree on the text of a peace agreement. There is no alternative to peace in our region," Pashinyan said at a government meeting on Thursday.

The Armenian government "will continue its political course towards peace irrespective of complications and difficulties," he said.

Amid the humanitarian crisis, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces shelled positions of the Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on June 27, killing four NKR servicemen, Pashinyan said.

"Azerbaijan spent a long time preparing for the military provocation through information attacks claiming that the Defense Army breached the ceasefire. The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh in turn denied this information and called it fiction. The goal of Azerbaijan is to escalate tensions and perpetrate ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The latest provocation also aims to thwart the efforts towards peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and solutions to guarantee the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.