The necessary ground for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem has already been laid. It is based, among other things, on the Madrid principles. The question is how the parties to the conflict will implement it, Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said in an interview with a 'Vestnik Kavkaza' correspondent on the sidelines of the 5th Moscow International Conference on Safety.
"The Nagorno-Karabakh issue is very sensitive and specific. The 'Troika' co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are on top of the issue. They have recently visited the region and after their return met with OSCE Chairman, Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. They are trying to make new contacts possible already in the nearest future. And today it is Russia (which is both an OSCE member and the country that maintains strategic relations with the two parties) that is the main driving force in setting up the conditions for reconciling the two sides. This very important factor is recognized by the OSCE, and other organizations and states, which were involved in the political settlement of the conflict,'' the Russian diplomat stressed.
According to the Russian ambassador to the OSCE, now all the efforts are aimed at ‘consolidating the fragile truce achieved thanks to the Russian leadership and the Russian military." "Agreements achieved on April 5 allow the parties to move a little bit forward in mutual confidence-building measures, strengthening the ceasefire, and reviving the political dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan,'' he said.
"But everything depends on the parties of the conflict, and this is what all of the negotiation process are trying to make clear to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The international community creates conditions to help the parties to reach an agreement. The 'Troika' of the OSCE Minsk Group plays here a major role. Another international intermediary, who is very active in this process is Andrzej Kasprzyk, a personal representative of the OSCE Chairman. At the end, the sooner the parties realize that any military scenarios are futile and start the negotiating process, the sooner this problem will be solved,'' the diplomat expressed his confidence.
At the same time all the main provisions of the settlement are ready. "They are quite a few: the Madrid principles, and a number of other agreements at the highest level, including those that were achieved with an active support of the Russian leadership, President Vladimir Putin, former president Dmitry Medvedev, as well as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The foundation has already been laid and we need to go ahead, implementing these principles in detail, as well as figuring out how to live in peace in this region. The sooner it happens, the sooner we will applaud another resolution of a complex and long-standing conflict. This will open significant prospects for cooperation and will relieve the tension that has been in the region for more than 20 years,'' Alexander Lukashevich concluded.
