YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARTSAKHPRESS. The United States Intelligence Community has warned of Azerbaijan’s readiness to use calibrated military pressure to advance its goals in talks with Armenia.
The 2023 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, noted that “relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are likely to remain tense and occasionally volatile in the absence of a peace treaty, given the proximity of military forces at the interstate border, the lack of a cease-fire enforcement mechanism, and Azerbaijan’s readiness to use calibrated military pressure to advance its goals in talks with Armenia.”
Furthermore, the report states that in September 2022 Azerbaijani forces launched a “coordinated attack” at multiple locations along the border, seizing some Armenian territory.
“Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are likely to remain tense and occasionally volatile in the absence of a peace treaty, given the proximity of military forces at the interstate border, the lack of a cease-fire enforcement mechanism, and Azerbaijan’s readiness to use calibrated military pressure to advance its goals in talks with Armenia. The continued presence of military forces in close proximity along the delimited border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, although such confrontations are likely to be limited in duration and intensity. Since May 2021, military clashes have occurred regularly at the interstate border and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The most intense flare-up took place in September 2022, when Azerbaijani forces launched a coordinated attack at multiple locations along the border, seizing some Armenian territory and resulting in nearly 300 military deaths. Peace talks have made some progress, but the most challenging issues—related to state borders and the future of Nagorno-Karabakh—are far from being resolved,” the report reads, in part.
