The ex-Soviet republics have been locked in a decades-long conflict over the mostly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan.

Tensions between Baku and Yerevan have escalated sharply in recent months, as both sides accuse the other of cross-border attacks.

“The military-political situation in our region has seriously worsened,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told his cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

He said Azerbaijan is “concentrating” troops on the two countries’ shared border and also near the mountainous region controlled by separatists.

“Azerbaijan is demonstrating its intention to undertake a fresh military provocation against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.”

The report came ahead of snap presidential elections in the separatist enclave on Saturday and days before joint drills between Armenian and US peacekeeping forces hosted by Yerevan.

Yerevan has accused Baku of blockading Nagorno-Karabakh since December, spurring a humanitarian crisis in Armenian-populated towns.

Pashinyan has criticised Moscow for failing to unblock the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, which is being patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.

They were deployed in 2020 when Russia brokered a ceasefire ending a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of the breakaway region.

Pashinyan recently said Yerevan’s reliance on Russia as its security guarantor was a “strategic mistake.”

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin told state media this week that Nato was attempting to draw Armenia “into the sphere of its pernicious influence.”

Yerevan and Baku have fought two wars for control over the region, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, the US, and Russia.