Armenia says soldier died after Azeri shelling, Interfax reports

An ethnic Armenian soldier looks through binoculars as he stands at fighting positions near the village of Taghavard in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Artem Mikryukov/File Photo

(Reuters) - An Armenian soldier died on Wednesday after shelling by forces from neighbouring Azerbaijan, Interfax news agency said, the latest in a long series of recent clashes between the two former Soviet states.

Interfax cited the Armenian defence ministry as saying shells hit the village of Sotk, close to the border. Azerbaijan dismissed the Armenian accusation as "a complete lie", the agency said.

The two nations have fought two wars in 30 years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan with a mainly ethnic Armenian population. Both sides regularly accuse each other of mounting attacks.

International efforts to broker a lasting peace have so far had little effect. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are due to meet on June 1 at a development conference in Moldova.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)