ArmInfo. The tensions around Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia can result in a major military conflict in 2018. This warning was made by the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, Daniel Coats, at a hearing in the special committee on intelligence of the US Senate.
"The tensions over the contested area of Nagorno-Karabakh can transform into a large-scale military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, into which Russia can also be drawn in order to support its regional ally." The reluctance of both sides to compromise, the growing pressure within societies [in the two Transcaucasian republics] , the steady military modernization of Azerbaijan and the acquisition of new Russian equipment by Armenia reinforce the risk of large-scale military operations in 2018, "Coats said. Coates is officially considered the coordinator of the work of all 16 American intelligence agencies.