Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Azerbaijan is planning a “full-scale war” as tensions between the two countries rise to a head.
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday (February 13), traded accusations over a border skirmish that left at least four Armenian soldiers dead and another wounded, and escalated tensions between the two Caucasus neighbours.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it described as a “provocation” by Azerbaijani troops who fired on Armenian forces across the border in the eastern Syunik region early Tuesday.
It urged Azerbaijan to refrain from “destabilising” actions. Azerbaijan’s State Border Service said it had fired on an Armenian post in retaliation for Armenian shelling of Azerbaijani positions that wounded one Azerbaijani service member the previous day.
“Any provocations by the Armenian side aimed at escalating tensions along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border will now be met with even more serious and decisive measures,” the State Border Service said in a statement.
“The military-political leadership of Armenia bears full responsibility for these developments.” Armenia and Azerbaijan have a long history of land disputes.
And now as officials prepare to escalate their ongoing disputes, the rest of the world has ramped up its military spending in fear of World War Three breaking out.
Strategic Studies (IISS) show that global defence spending has skyrocketed over the past 12 months.
An analysis by the think tank said spending on everything military from ammunition to nuclear weapons has risen by nine percent since February 2023, reaching a massive £1.7 trillion ($2.2trn). And just this week, Britain deployed tanks in a practice mission in the event of an attack on NATO members.
