Karabakh: Russia participates in negotiations as a neutral party

By "Vestnik Kavkaza" 

Experts had hoped that against the background of violent clashes in the conflict zone of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia would take the lead in finding a solution to the conflict at the Sochi meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As a result of the meeting, the parties assured that they are willing to continue the negotiation process to resolve the conflict. According to Vladimir Putin, both sides have the goodwill for it. 

The director of the SCO Business Club, Denis Tyurin, believes that the main outcome of the Sochi summit is the fact that it prevented an escalation of the conflict. "The outcome of the negotiations did not become known to the public, nor the topics that were discussed, neither questions nor conclusions have been published. Currently we see some easing of the situation, the parties have calmed down, we see a willingness to negotiate, a readiness to find common ground, build bridges, possibly bypass walls and look for exits through negotiations."

Tyurin believes that the efforts undertaken by Russia in this regard are not associated with traditional partner-based relations between Armenia and Russia: "Russia is acting as a neutral party, as an objective, outside observer, ready to consider and accept the logic of each of the parties in order to find the most suitable, the most accommodating solution for each of the parties. The long-term objective of all parties, of all governments, is to increase the well-being of the population, to increase living standards, to make the life of people better. It is in this framework that we need to talk about the future ways of resolving the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh."

According to Tyurin, the fact that Azerbaijan is in a better economic position and has larger financial resources has a positive effect on its willingness to invest and stimulate economic activities in the region. "I guess it makes sense to take the next step - to open up opportunities for economic cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Certainly there are many possibilities for that in the framework of the single Eurasian economic space and it would be very impractical not to use them."

The director of the Institute of EurAsEC, Vladimir Lepekhin, is convinced that "the main players behind the scenes who are trying to fan the flames in the Caucasus and throughout the region have been trying to "pump" Armenia, sponsored the opposition, raised the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in a way which contradicted the authorities' line."

According to Lepekhin, the Western countries have long been playing against Azerbaijan: "We know that, until 2011, Azerbaijan had the highest rates of economic growth associated with the export of hydrocarbons. This was due to the fact that mainly foreign companies worked in all the fields. Then, suddenly, operators of these companies have started to reduce the production of hydrocarbons. They avoided saying why, even though [President Ilham] Aliyev has repeatedly asked them why it was reducing. Then the leadership of Azerbaijan started to implement the policy of industrialization. Foreign companies came at that time as well, invested money. Now comes a moment when Azerbaijan is pressured."

According to the expert, on this basis, the solution of the Karabakh problem remains not "in the hands of some international organizations, let alone the United States, but only in the hands of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia." Lepekhin also emphasized the possible role of the President of Kazakhstan in the conflict: "We have long been suggesting the 2+2 format in addressing not only the Karabakh problem, but relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in general and the stabilization of the region as a whole. According to this format, Kazakhstan will be the guarantor of Azerbaijan's participation in the negotiations and Russia will be the guarantor of the participation of Armenia. Four countries within the  2+2 format will be able to finally solve this problem."