RF President’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s statement that the “solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the hands of the parties in conflict rather than in the hands of the international mediators” was a message to the West, Armenia and Azerbaijan. As interpreted by political analyst Styopa Safaryan, Russia is trying to show the West that they are with the Minsk Group and accept the Minsk Group approaches that the conflict should be resolved by the parties and with the denouement of the parties, “They want to make the West calm down that Russia will not take separate steps towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
This statement is especially associated with the recent debates of the Minsk co-chairs in Tbilisi regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, perhaps this is important in the sense that they show that Russia is not breaking the agreements.” Pertaining to the second addressee of the message – Armenia, according to Styopa Safaryan, Russia also tried to calm down, “There are doubts in Armenia that Russia can make a deal with Azerbaijan for the sake of the new geopolitical situations and the interests. Russia is trying to calm down that it will not be to the detriment of Armenia and also a justification before Baku that if Baku wants the problem to be resolved, which was recently announced by Ilham Aliyev, saying that the status quo should be changed, then the political solution is not in the hands of Russia not but in the hands of Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
