Snipers and skirmishes in the line of contact are the only way to exert military pressure. It makes the other conflicting party and the mediators not form an illusion that Azerbaijan has resigned to the defeat in the war and agreed to maintain Karabakh’s status quo, Azerbaijani political analyst Rasim Musabekov told an online conference in the Caucasus Journalists Network. He commented on Azerbaijani leadership’s refusal to withdraw snipers from the line of contact.

According to him, however, one should not think that the Azerbaijani authorities and society are only thinking to start a major war. “It is not so, though patience is running out and the number of people for decisive and pressure on the government increases. Azerbaijan has made a major investment in strengthening its defense capability.

This year the country allocated U.S. $ 3bn for this purpose. It exceeds not only Armenia’s state budget, but is also the largest military expenditures in the former Soviet Union area after Russia. However, hostilities are unlikely to resume in the near future. First, negotiations are underway. Secondly, resumption of large-scale military operations depends on the internal political situation in Azerbaijan and Armenia,” he said.