The Armenian forces would deliver a disproportionate blow should conflict erupt between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan told The Wall Street Journal.

Sargsyan said he is increasingly concerned about what he sees as neighboring Azerbaijan’s willingness to engage in armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

He said Armenia’s government would continue to push for a negotiated settlement to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. “Unfortunately, I believe Azerbaijan is waiting for an occasion to start a conflict. I am confident such a mistake would harm the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia but that most harm would come to the people of Azerbaijan. We won’t stand aside when the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is going to be destroyed,” President Sargsyan said Thursday.

Armenia’s president also reflected on the xenophobic atmosphere that is established in Azerbaijan. “What is the reason for establishing such a xenophobic atmosphere and hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijan? It is easier to create such an atmosphere, to encourage hate speech, rather than deal with the consequences of that atmosphere and turn the tide back.” President Sargsyan said

But he also tapped the rising tensions in one of the world’s key energy corridors, and warned that the prospect of a military strike against Iran, with which Armenia shares a border, was an issue of “extreme concern” which could set off a sequence of events that could also trigger a conflict between Yerevan and Baku.

Serzh Sargsyan said deeper international engagement in the region was vital to help reduce tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “If we had been living in an isolated region where there was no international impact, war would have already begun,” Armenia’s President said.