Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has criticized the International Crisis Group’s recent report that warned of an increasing chance of a fresh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

"This is just an analysis by experts which is often far from reality. Before expressing such opinions, it is necessary to take into account the situation that has emerged and try not to add fuel to the fire," Nalbandian told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko in Yerevan.

ICG said in a report released Tuesday that the possibility of a resumption of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia is increasing due to "an arms race, escalating front-line clashes, vitriolic war rhetoric and a virtual breakdown in peace talks". It said that increased military capabilities on both sides would make a new armed conflict in the South Caucasus region "far more deadly than the 1992-1994 one that ended with a shaky truce". The report also said weapons purchases and offensive posturing along the front lines could be signs of Azerbaijan’s preparation to use force before the country’s oil revenues are projected to decline after 2014.

Armenia’s armed forces have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, since the 1990s war. Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly warned that the country’s land will be freed at any cost. OSCE-brokered peace talks have so far been fruitless.