Azerbaijan is likely to resume war in the Karabakh conflict zone and this situation is provoked by Yerevan’s sluggish stance, Manvel Sargsyan, Senior Analyst at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies, said at the discussions in Yerevan.

According to him, Armenia’s recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence can retrieve the situation. “It will clarify the situation over Karabakh and will, to a large extent, contribute to easing the tension,” the expert said.

He stressed that situation over Karabakh has reached stalemate, as neither of the sides wants to meet halfway. As a result, both sides step up efforts for maintaining the status quo rendering “partner” assistance to each other. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan does not waste time and being confident in failure of the OSCE mission is trying to solve the problems in other formats, yielding certain results, he noted. As to Yerevan, the expert considers it has no precise policy on resolving the conflict. Fearing official recognition of Karabakh, which the government believes will harm international recognition and lead to breakdown in talks, Yerevan will do its utmost to maintain present situation. “Meanwhile, Armenia has no concrete program regarding international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the expert concluded.