Armenian experts do not expect escalation of hostilities in Karabakh conflict zone

Azerbaijan will not start any large-scale combat actions; however, armed incidents will occasionally take place on the contact line. This was stated by participants of a "round table" devoted to "Military and political situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict".

According to Lieutenant General Vagarshak Arutyunyan, the Armenian Minister of Defence, the today's situation on the border cannot be called a war, and "it is a gross violation of the armistice by the Azerbaijani side."

The Armenian Minister of Defence believes that Azerbaijan will not start a full-scale war, "since they are well aware that the Armenian side has a combat-ready army, able and willing to fight," Vagarshak Arutyunyan said at the "round table" held in Yerevan on April 2.

Political analyst Sergey Minasyan, the Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, agrees that no large-scale operations on the border with Azerbaijan should be expected, since the both sides maintain the military balance. The political analyst has also emphasized that Armenia is a member of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), and the country has strategic relations with Russia and friendly relations with the Western countries and NATO.

In his turn, Alexander Iskandaryan, the Director of the Caucasus Institute, has noted that the Karabakh conflict, like other conflicts in the world, will not be solved on the basis of compromise. "In the near future, no full-scale war will be started; however, it will be impossible to prevent clashes on the border," Alexander Iskandaryan has stated.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.