No progress in Karabakh talks expected - expert

During the recent meeting of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents the parties issued a joint statement saying that they are ready to speed up preparation of an agreement on a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, Andrey Kazntsev, a member of the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations's Center for Euro-Atlantic Security, believes that after Vladimir Putin's probable victory in the March presidential elections, no progress in the peace talks should be expected.

According to the expert, it was President Dmitry Medvedev who was so interested in a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict. Vladimir Putin seems to pay less attention to the issue. 

The situation is becoming even more complicated due to recent developments surrounding Iran's nuclear program, Kazantsev says.