MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. The latest skirmishes between Armenia and Azerbaijan are unlikely to grow into major hostilities, like those in the autumn of 2020, the head of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, told TASS in an interview on Monday.
"Such aggravations may become inevitable, but at the same time they are unlikely to grow into major hostilities, because there is the factor of Russian peacekeepers. Of course, neither party wishes to enter into conflicts with this Russian contingent," he said.
Kortunov believes that the stabilization of the situation on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh should not be expected in the near future.
"I think some incidents will continue. But the situation does not look explosive to me. We will not see anything like the events of autumn 2020, when an armed conflict, a major one by regional standards, erupted," Kortunov said.
He believes that Azerbaijan has not abandoned its main aim to put the region under its control.
"Probably, Azerbaijan is trying to feel the limits within which it can assert its control over this territory. The reasons for an aggravation are many, because problems remain - those related to the status and position of the Armenian minority, new transport corridors in this territory and the territories linking the two countries connecting with other regions," Kortunov said.
Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that there was an aggravation of the situation in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Defense Ministry said that the ceasefire regime had been violated by Azerbaijan’s army in the area of the Sarybaba height. The peacekeepers’ command, together with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides, has been taking measures to stabilize the situation.
Tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, when active hostilities began there. On November 9 of the same year, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a tripartite statement, which made it possible to achieve the cessation of hostilities. The Azerbaijani and Armenian forces stopped at the positions they were holding at the moment. A number of regions were put under Baku’s control. Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the disengagement line and in the Lachin corridor.