Azernews.Az

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian says the armed forces of Armenia remain prepared to withdraw snipers from their frontline positions in order to bolster the cease-fire regime in the Karabakh conflict zone, Radio Liberty's Armenian Service reports.

"We constantly express our readiness not to breach the truce and withdraw snipers but the leadership of Azerbaijan, their military command refuse to do the same," Ohanian told Radio Liberty on Thursday.

International mediators have repeatedly called for both Armenian and Azerbaijani forces to withdraw snipers from the area.

They say this would significantly reduce deadly cease-fire violations that are reported from the main Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact" around Karabakh on a regular basis.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to those calls in a statement issued in September 2010.

The idea is backed by the Armenian side but opposed by Azerbaijan.

An Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman last year called it "yet another ploy" by the Armenians. "Snipers mostly operate on the Armenian side," he said.

Two Armenian soldiers were shot dead near Karabakh on November 19-20 by what Armenian military authorities described as sniper fire from Azerbaijani army positions.

The Armenian military pledged to respond "disproportionately" to their deaths.

Ohanian reaffirmed that pledge. "The leadership of the [Karabakh] Defense Army is thinking about that and will take appropriate measures to counter such actions by Azerbaijan," he said. "[We are thinking about] measures that will force them to refrain from sniper fire."