ArmInfo. Director of the US National Intelligence Daniel Coates believes that the threat of resumption of full-scale hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh conflict in 2017 remains urgent. This is stated in his report to the Congress of the country.
As stated in the document, the aggravation of tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan around Nagorno- Karabakh came in April 2016. "Baku's and Yerevan's unwillingness to compromise in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and the growing internal pressure in these republics testifies to the persistence of the threat of resumption of full-scale hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2017," Coates assured.
According to the head of the US National Intelligence Service, the ongoing economic crisis is a challenge to the current regime in Azerbaijan, which will lead to an intensification of "suppression of dissent to maintain power in the country." "At the same time, Baku is trying to balance relations with Russia, Iran and the West," the document says.