Azerbaijan was a party interested in escalation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border, British journalist and Caucasus expert Thomas de Waal said in an interview with the Voice of America radio.

Asked about the reasons for recent escalation in Karabakh conflict zone, the analyst said the current situation in Karabakh is causing concern, since there were more victims during summer months than during the entire 2013.

The analyst believes that the current tension is related to some external factors, and the situation in Ukraine diverts attention of the world powers. Azerbaijan is getting more angry because of ineffectiveness of Minsk process, while tension in Russia-West relations makes cooperation within Minsk Group more complicated.

The expert pointed to some troubling incidents, even in Nakhchivan, where the situation used to be calm.

Thomas de Waal thinks that Azerbaijan was the party interested in escalation, because the losing party as a rule tends to strain the situation. At the same time he noted that the actions of Armenian side on July 31 also triggered violation of the ceasefire, so both sides are responsible.