On 12 March, the spokesperson of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova commented on the military drills which are to be held by Azerbaijan from 15 to 18 March. “[The planned training in Azerbaijan does] not pose a risk to stability and security in the region. Usually, the military exercises are conducted by the whole Southern Caucasus countries. These exercises are conducted on a regular basis and the relevant information is delivered to the interested sides on time. According to the information we have, the military exercises in Azerbaijan are planned and directed to increase the combat readiness of troops,” she added. 

Meanwhile,  the Armenian Ministry of Defence announced that the country’s armed forces would conduct tactical and special drills in all operational directions from 16 March to 20 March. The purpose of the military drills is to check the combat readiness of the troops, management capacities of the operative units and their ability to act quickly in a specific situation. The drills will also check cooperation between staff and supporting forces and means. The exercises would involve about 7,500 servicemen, 200 pieces of artillery, 150 anti-tank weapons, 100 pieces of armoured vehicles, more than 90 air defence equipment. Strike aviation will be involved in the exercise to ensure the tactical actions of the troops.

The representative at large of Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto President (Arayik Harutunyan) Boris Avagyan accused the British HALO trust company of handing over minefield maps to Azerbaijan during the second Karabakh war. “I have learned from reliable sources that while working in Karabakh, the HALO Trust company, which operated under the name of a British charitable organisation and was engaged in clearing landmines, obtained maps of the minefields of the Armenian side and handed them over to the Turkish special services. Because of this, the adversary was able to successfully pass through the minefields during the war. Under the name of studying dangerous areas, this company has carried out reconnaissance operations in the whole territory of Karabakh,” he said.

The officials from the HALO Trust responded to Avagyan’s statement, saying that it was a lie. “The HALO Trust is aware of a claim that it handed minefield maps to Azerbaijani forces before or during the 2020 conflict over Karabakh. There is absolutely no truth to this claim. For over 20 years HALO has worked in Karabakh to make the local people safe. The HALO Trust is only able to operate in conflict zones around the world because it is a totally non-political and neutral organisation. The claim is totally false,” read the statement of the company on Facebook.