Peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is beneficial to Russia, and among the countries not participating in the conflict, Russia is the most interested in establishing peace in the South Caucasus, Russian politicians and ideologists said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, speaking about Moscow's work on the Karabakh problem.
On the eve of a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at the UN General Assembly, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that Yerevan is actually negotiating liberation of occupied Azerbaijani territories, which is in line with Russian settlement plan for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is currently on the negotiating table.
Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Ilyas Umakhanov stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is beneficial to Russia strategically. "Russia believes in fundamental thesis that there should be friendly, prosperous, developing states that do not carry any potential conflict-forming threat along the perimeter of its borders. In this sense, Russia is one of the most interested sides in finding a peaceful, mutually acceptable solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.
Ilyas Umakhanov added that Moscow is doing everything possible for this. "We do a lot to reach this, including the leadership of our country, our president. We stood and will stand by these positions, including at the parliamentary level," he noted.
Chairman of the Izborsk club, famous writer Alexander Prokhanov said that "since Russia is close to these countries geostrategically, culturally and economically, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict forces us to act. In addition, Russia is a very powerful player in political and military games in the Middle East, and the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia hinders the ability of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis to effectively cooperate with Russia in this context. In other words, it is very important for Russia to maintain peace in this region," he said.
The Associate Professor of the Department of International Security of the Faculty of World Politics of Moscow State University, Alexey Fenenko, also noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict creates a very complex strategic problem for Russia, used by its opponents. "On the one hand, if Russia maintains a balanced position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Yerevan immediately says that Moscow is leaving its ally and Armenia needs to look for a counterbalance in the face of NATO, which Paris and Washington actively use. On the other hand, if Russia is getting closer to Armenia, it causes a crisis in partnership with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which Russia patiently built for so long and which is very important for Russia. This situation is very dangerous for Russian position in the Caucasus," he said.
