Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the results of the negotiations which were held today in Moscow with his Azerbaijani collegue Elmar Mammadyarov on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that the settlement process should be accelerated. According to him, now is the time to "double the efforts" of intermediaries.
"We are working in the line of the agreements within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group with our American and French partners. We are in constant contact with them, they regularly communicate with us. Given the general mood and focus on the result, we can ensure this progress," Sergei Lavrov expressed his confidence in the constructive continuation of the negotiating process between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group.
In a conversation with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, the Director of the Center for Regional Studies, Richard Giragosyan, assessed the importance of the statement made by Sergey Lavrov. "It is important today, because after an agreement with Iran was reached, Russia got a great opportunity to show that it plays a major role in the South Caucasus and in mediating in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is possible to expect the beginning of a return to the style of mediation which President Dmitry Medvedev showed in his time, and now Vladimir Putin will do it. That means Russia is directly going to play a major role in the OSCE Minsk Group," Girakosyan expects.
Military expert Uzeir Jafarov, in his turn, expressed the view that Russia plays a leading role among the international mediators. "The key to the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the hands of Moscow, and Moscow, if it wants, will help to resolve this issue. Russia certainly does not want to lose Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan has excellent connections with Russia and has a great respect for its northern neighbor. Meanwhile, Sergei Lavrov is still not in contact with the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, his deputy Grigory Karasin is, while after the announcement of the intensification of efforts you would expect mediation work at the highest level," he noted.
