Baku awaits Moscow's role in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

The negotiation on the settlement of the decades-old Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has stagnated for some time now.

The efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, which was charged with the tedious task of negotiating a resolution to the aggravated and now protracted conflict, by acting a mediator has proved fruitless.

The unresolvness of the conflict, which is considered to stand a threat to regional stability, has raised serious concern in Azerbaijan. The country has repeatedly stated that the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unacceptable.

Though some officials and experts refer to this conflict as a “frozen conflict”, indeed, it is not. It is instead a source of ongoing worries and tensions with sporadic spikes in violence. Earlier, several clashes on the contact line saw Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchange fires; a clear indication that a solution is needed to the crisis.

Therefore, Azerbaijan, which aims to put an end to the long-standing conflict, is in search of new ways and methods for settling the problem. The Nagorno-Karabakh problem has been widely discussed during Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s Moscow visit.

Mammadyarov considered that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has already become overripe and needs resolving.

Lavrov shared the same position as Mammadyarov, noting that no one denies that the conflict has been protracted for too long. Noting that he looks at the settlement process with firm optimism, Lavrov said assistance in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy.

In this regard, Russia, which carried much influence on Armenia, is considered key in brokering a lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Fikrat Sadikhov, a political scientist and professor of Azerbaijan's Western University believes that tentative agreements, which could initiate the signing of a great peace agreement on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, may have been reached during talks in Moscow between the Azerbaijani and Russian foreign ministers.

Commenting on the results of Mammadyarov’s visit to Russia, he told Trend that in this context it is very important that Moscow exerts pressure on its military-political ally, Armenia, otherwise, waiting for a political result would be simply illogical.

However, as Sadikhov said, progress is very much being felt as the result of a mutual understanding in between the two countries.

“Russia understands Azerbaijan’s value as a key player in the region,” he said.

Mammadyarov himself told the Russia 24 channel that the main topic of his discussions with Sergey Larvov was a clear desire to see Russia get the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict off the ground.

Sadikhov said Mammadyarov’s visit and his meetings with his Russian counterpart, in principle, correspond to the format of the current Azerbaijani-Russian relations.

“Both countries want these bilateral relations to be in the interests of each of the two countries. It is clear that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains a key problem for Azerbaijan. The reality is that much depends on Russia, the main military and political ally of Armenia,” he said.

This is understood not only in Baku, but across the capitals of Europe and of course in Moscow, he said.

The expert added that in this aspect, the visits of Azerbaijani officials and their negotiations with representatives of Russia’s political elite are of great importance.

Sadikhov said the format of meetings in between Azerbaijani and Russian foreign ministers remain within a diplomatic format - which envisages the settlement of the most difficult key problems within bilateral relations.

Azerbaijan made it clear that it has an independent policy and that its territorial integrity stands at the epicenter of its foreign policy activity, according to the expert.

“I believe that it was heard and well understood in Moscow and now, conclusions should be made,” Sadikhov said.

He also added that this should be a basis for progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Another expert considers that Moscow’s optimism stems from the fact that negotiators felt the readiness of the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to find ways to move the negotiation process from the dead point.

“Political will, the political willingness of the parties of the conflict to progress is needed in order to solve it, and, apparently, now, perhaps too slowly, but the political elite of both parties starts to show it,” said Vladimir Jarikhin, deputy chairman of the Institute of CIS.

There are certain prerequisites for promoting the settlement of this conflict, however, these prerequisites will unlikely lead to a momentary solution, according to the expert.

Jarikhin noted that Moscow has always been very interested in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, since it supports friendly relations both with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He said namely Russia has played a role of an active mediator for several years in the negotiations of the presidents of the conflicting sides.

Russia’s former President Dmitriy Medvedyev have several times in the past organized the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to seek a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, these meetings didn’t yield positive results in settlement process of the decades-old conflict.

“Moreover, Moscow actively works as a co-chairing country of OSCE Minsk Group by finding the common positions of all co-chairing countries, which by the way, do not fully reflect the interests of Moscow itself,” Jarikhin said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since, a war in the early 1990s saw Armenian armed forces occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.