Analyst: Escalation in Tavush is the result of St. Petersburg  passivity of Armenian authorities 

ArmInfo. The escalation of tension in Tavush and the deaths of three young people are the result of the Armenian authorities' passivity shown at the Dec 26 summit of the CSTO in St. Petersburg, Director of the Stepanakert-based "Ashkharh" Center for Strategic Studies Hrachya Arzumanyan has told ArmInfo.   

To note, on December 29 morning, the Azeri armed forces attempted a  sabotage attack on the southeastern section of the Azeri-Armenian  border near Chinari village of Tavush province of Armenia. The  adversary used sniper rifles and grenade launchers.

"I do not think we could expect anything different after the April  events. The month of April and the entire year 2016 gave the Armenian  President the right "to be taken ill" - by the way, his Belarusian  counterpart also took advantage of that right. But Serzh Sargsyan  left for St. Petersburg.  Eventually we have witnessed one more  escalation on the border, a sabotage attack and mortar fire. This is  normal and natural," he says.      

Arzumanyan thinks that Yerevan's response to the challenges and  threats to the Armenian statehood, particularly, to the willingness  to cede the sovereignty is unnatural. At the same time, the analyst  thinks cession of sovereignty is an unfeasible task for both the  Armenian authorities and force centers. 

Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that  three Armenian servicemen were killed - Senior Lieutenant Shavarsh  Melikyan and privates Edgar Narayan and Erik Abovyan. When  retreating, the adversary left one victim on the Armenian side. There  is no more detailed information about Azeri losses. "The entire  responsibility for the provocation lies on the Azeri leadership," the  Armenian Defense Ministry says.