Lavrov sums up work on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement in 2017

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a positive assessment of the work on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the outgoing year, speaking at a press conference in Vienna.

According to the diplomat, in each conflict, it is necessary to understand what is priority. "But it is also necessary to rely on certain common approaches. Among these approaches, first of all, is a direct dialogue between the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Unfortunately, significant progress has not been observed yet. However, there is a positive moment - this year's dialogue was at the level of presidents and at the level of foreign ministers," the minister said.

Lavrov stressed that Russia will continue collective work with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. He noted that the collective approach contains the solution principles that the sides have accepted, but have not implemented yet. 

The director of the Institute of Contemporary Economics Nikita Isayev, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that in the first place they managed to avoid a repetition of last April's battles for Karabakh. "The very fact that this year Karabakh was not part of the large-scale war like last year suggests that 2017 was the year of a more peaceful process, although there were victims both among civilians and servicemen. The conflict is not frozen, both sides understand this," he said.

"At the same time, I believe that no special success was achieved in the diplomatic settlement of the conflict, although we observed direct contacts between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. It indicates that there is a potential for holding negotiations and the possibility of achieving a diplomatic settlement. Unfortunately, none of the proposed formulas of the negotiation process served as a real starting point for the negotiation process, and the work of the OSCE Minsk Group did not have much effect. We see the US and France flirting with Armenia, but their actions were not effective," Nikita Isaev said.

"If we make forecasts for 2018, I do not think that it will radically differ from 2017. It is unlikely that even framework agreements will be reached, including the cease-fire regime. The period of 2019-2020, when large geopolitical faults are expected along the line of major world powers, including the US on the eve of new elections and the growing China. The EU will have to take a more clear position towards the US, and it can cause a big split, in the case of which Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be escalated," the director of the Institute of Contemporary Economics warned.

The chairman of the Izborsk club, famous writer Alexander Prokhanov, also noted that there is no heavy fighting on the line of contact and at the borders of countries. "The meetings between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia can be considered as the achievement of this year. When presidents meet and speak, it allows other levels of society to get in touch with each other. Such a contact is a prerequisite for negotiations. This year, the view was expressed from the Armenian side that the Armenians are ready to liberate several captured regions of Azerbaijan under security guarantees for Armenian units. This proposal was not confirmed by the political leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan but the very willingness to liberate the districts is very promising," he said.

"This year, our Izborsk club has started to work closely with the Azerbaijani intelligentsia, we held a joint discussion forum in Moscow. We hope that in the future we will hold a meeting of the Izborsk Club in the area of ​​military operations on the Azerbaijani territory. On the one hand, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still bloody, but fatigue is growing in its bowels. And it's true for both sides and guarantors - Russia, Turkey and Iran, which in turn can serve as a symptom of the transition to a more serious negotiation process," Alexander Prokhanov concluded.