Nagorno-Karabakh: OSCE preparing meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said at the Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Moscow that the organization started to organize a possible meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, to address the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh.

This statement was made after the discussion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha. "We are concerned over the increase of tension in the region and on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, it is necessary to work with the political leadership," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

Zannier said that the OSCE Minsk Group on resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can hold talks this autumn.

A Milli Majlis deputy, political scientist Asim Mollazade, told Vestnik Kavkaza that he is skeptical about the likelihood of organizing a meeting between the two presidents this year. "Unfortunately, the Minsk Group is only emulating any actions today, and all its activities are absolutely futile. I see that Armenia is not ready to do any steps towards peace. It simulates their participation in the negotiation process. I'm not sure that the meeting will be held until any specific proposals," he explained.

"I think we need to discuss a specific timetable for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories. This topic should be negotiated on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions. The peace negotiations can begin only after that," Asim Mollazade stressed.

The director of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan, in his turn, believes that a meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan is quite probable. "The efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group can lead to this meeting," the expert noted.

According to him, in the first place they will discuss ceasefire violations along the line of contact. "Officially, of course, there will be discussion of the Karabakh conflict and ways out of it. The main real problem now is the military activity. Trying to stop this kind of activity is the main task for today," Alexander Iskandaryan concluded.

A scientist of the Institute for Economics of the RAS, Alexander Karavaev, said that such a meeting can be scheduled only in advance, as both presidents have very tight travel schedules. "I do not see any antagonism which does not allow to organize such a meeting before the end of the year. Several times a year the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan hold their meetings at different venues. Therefore, it would not be unexpected if they will meet again," he said.

"Until the end of the year there is, in fact, 2.5 months. It seems to me that, for objective reasons, it would be difficult to find any window to organize a meeting. There is still another factor, associated with the fact that the attitude of Baku towards specific mechanisms of the Minsk Group and the OSCE has become very skeptical. Therefore, they won't reject the possibility of a meeting in Baku, but also wouldn't  intensify the preparatory process," Alexander Iskandaryan added.