MOSCOW, Russia (A.W.)—The secretary-general of the Russian led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha condemned the Dec. 29 Azberbaijani attacks at the Armenian border that led to the death of three soldiers and labeled them as “provocative.”

“We regard these actions in the territory of a CSTO member state as provocative, especially against the backdrop of the quite serious fighting in the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (Artsakh/NKR), involving heavy weaponry, in April this year,” said Bordyuzha, shortly after the Dec. 29 attack.

Armenia has criticized states in the CSTO in the past for not blaming Azerbaijan for ceasefire violations, reported RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

“Given the efforts made by both sides as well as the leaders of several states [after the April escalation,] it looked as though the process of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will move forward more actively,” Bordyuzha also said. “However, reports coming from the region lately about regular ceasefire violations and especially yet another incident on December 29… are a cause for serious concern,” he added.

Republican Party (RPA) spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov welcomed Bordyuzha’s comments and praised him for referring to Karabagh (Artsakh/NKR) as a “republic.” Sharmazanov added that by pointing out that an attack had taken place near the Chinari village at the Armenian state border, he has confirmed that Azerbaijan initiated an infiltration.