Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has said that escalation of the situation in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can “become a good excuse for radical Islamists to become established in, say, Azerbaijan”. This is what Pashinyan told Russian journalists, reports Lenta.

According to Armenia’s Prime Minister, after being defeated in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is “seeking new places where it can show itself”. Pashinyan claims that Azerbaijan “is a very appropriate point” that will allow ISIS to take action in the direction of Iran, the Russian South Caucasus and Central Asia.

According to him, for this reason, the next escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh won’t be local anymore, and not only Yerevan, but also Moscow, Baku and Tehran understand this.

Stating the importance of Transcaucasia for Russia, Pashinyan expressed confidence that Moscow is interested in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and will guarantee the “exclusively peaceful” solution to this issue. According to him, Russia has all the necessary leverages to disallow further escalation. “I don’t think Russia won’t use those leverages, if needed,” he emphasized.