CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 11

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
capitulate by exerting continuous pressure on all possible fronts.
Concurrently with extensive purchases of modern weaponry, Baku
increased tension at the demarcation line persistently as a means to put
pressure on the Armenian government and society.
The Azerbaijani government did not exclude the possibility that a
forced military settlement of the Karabakh problem might be used.
That was evidenced by the commitment to gain military dominance
over the Armenian army, statements of Azerbaijani officials (including
the Azeri Ambassador to Russia P. Byul-Buyl Oglu 1 ) asserting
Azerbaijan’s right to a military resolution of the Karabakh problem
and extensive diplomatic efforts to weaken Armenia’s position on the
global stage focused primarily on undermining the friendly relations
between Armenia and Russia. Baku managed to capitalize on
cooperation with Russia in the military and technical field: supplies of
Russian weapons to the Azerbaijani army transformed into one on the
most painful problems in the Russia-Armenia relations.
Russia sought to prevent new escalation in Karabakh by maintaining a
military and political power balance in the region. The huge arms
purchases for the Azerbaijani army (from Russia, Israel, Turkey,
Belorussia, Ukraine and other countries) were offset by CSTO
membership of Armenia, military cooperation agreements and
supplies of relevant Russian-made weapons to equip the Armenian
army. This enabled Moscow to maintain an approximate parity of
power between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the setting of the ever-
growing militarization in the region initiated by Baku and neutralize
the threat of a new war.
Since the early 2000s, Azerbaijan has been purchasing large
quantities of weapons from Russia. The largest set of contracts with an
estimated value of at least $4 bln was signed in the early 2010s. In
2015, due to commercial attractiveness of multibillion deals with
Azerbaijan to the Russian defense industry (and arms producers from
other countries), the military and political equilibrium was grossly
1
See: The Ambassador of Azerbaijan: a military option remains on the table to
resolve the conflict. 02.04.2016, http://www.svoboda.org/a/27650737.html
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