Armenia does not think that the armed hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone were absolutely unexpected, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan says in an interview with DW, when commenting on the resumption of military actions in the conflict zone.
"We expected that. What was meant to happen - happened. But the ceasefire was not unexpected either. Azeris suffered big losses. In addition, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces called his Armenian counterpart and told him that the Azeris agreed to hold a meeting with Armenia's representatives in Moscow on this matter. Many states and international organizations came out with statements," Sargsyan says.
When asked what he personally did to stop bloodshed, Sargsyan says that everything possible was done for it. "Nearly three years ago Azerbaijan quitted two of the three basic principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs. And now it insists on resolving the conflict based on the principle of territorial integrity only. Secondly, besides its anti-Armenian demarches and aggressive behavior against Armenia, Azerbaijan has significantly increased its military budget and intensified its bellicose rhetoric. We informed the relevant structures of what the developments can result in. We suggested creating a mechanism to investigate the incidents along the entire line of contact to reveal the initiator of the ceasefire violations," Sargsyan says.