Russia uses unresolved conflicts, such as the one in Karabakh, as a tool to maintain its influence in the South Caucasus region, a NATO General said Thursday, February 25 in Washington.

Russia is part of the Minsk Group process, aimed at resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” Philip Breedlove said. “Despite this, Moscow has actually increased instability in the region by selling arms to Azerbaijan while maintaining a troop presence in Armenia.”

In fact, violence along the line of contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has escalated significantly in the last two years, the General said, 2015 being the deadliest year in the conflict since the ceasefire was signed in 1994.

According to him, the complicated Karabakh conflict is arguably the greatest impediment to the spread of peace and security through Europe to the Caucasus.