Moscow’s posture is contrary to the role of a mediator dealing with the peaceful settlement
Recently, in Hamburg, in the framework of the Council session of the OSCE Foreign Ministers, a meeting of the Foreign Minister of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs was held. At the OSCE Ministerial meeting, the leaders of the delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, issued a statement in which they emphasized that Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev should “display flexibility and return to the negotiation table.”
Lavrov, Kerry and Ayrault expressed willingness to host the meeting of the two presidents, “when they will be ready for it.” “We are convinced that the presidents should be involved in the negotiations as soon as possible and in good faith. The presidents’ continuous and direct dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs continuous to remain the key component of confidence-building and advancing peace process, – noted the leaders of the delegations of the Co-chair countries, – If no progress is registered in the negotiations, the possibility of new clashes will continue to grow, and the parties will bear its full responsibility,” they warned. Russia, US and France have urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume the talks and respect commitments reached during the previous meetings on the implementation of confidence-building measures.
After the four-day war in April, official Baku dies not respect the commitments obtained in the meetings held on May 16 in Vienna and June 20 in St. Petersburg, moreover, the Azerbaijani authorities have rejected the proposals to expand the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and to create an investigative mechanism by the OSCE. The US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick, for example, despite Baku’s denial statements has announced several times (including in the interview with “Aravot”) that the proposals should be fulfilled.
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It is clear that the fulfillment of these two proposals is of a vital importance for the Armenian side, and their application is a condition to resume the negotiations, otherwise if there are no guarantees and the hostilities may start at any moment, it becomes meaningless to continue the negotiations to once again colliding with the destructive stance of official Baku.
It is a fact that the official Baku not only despised the 1994-95 ceasefire agreements but also the claims of the mediators in the post-April period. But the more Baku continues its denial stance and whims the more assertive should the mediators be in their claims. This is the main option to “curb” Aliyev. However, one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries – Russia – has taken a highly doubtable stance. Instead of demanding the fulfillment of the presented recommendations from official Baku, Moscow has taken the role of “giving a courage” to Azerbaijan’s denial policy.
In Hamburg, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also touched upon the issue of Karabakh, announcing that no new agreement has been reached on the deployment of new observers in the conflict zone, “These agreements should be enshrined in OSCE decisions but to reach it we need consensus. There is a consensus on increasing the number of observers, however, where they must be stationed, no consensus yet. I, like many people, think that they must be stationed along the entire length of the line of contact.”
Why there is no consensus? By whose fault? How does Lavrov assess the official Baku’s repeatedly voiced denial statements about the expansion of the officer of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and introduction of investigative mechanisms by the OSCE?
If Lavrov has assumed the role of registering the failure of the mutual agreements in the failed negotiations then as an impartial mediator he must also have revealed by whose fault the negotiations have reached a dead end and who denies the mediators’ recommendations. In the case of the fulfillment of the proposals, the provocative activities by Aliyev in the contact line will be reduced significantly.
And maybe it is beneficial to Russia for Aliyev always having such a “freedom”. This is nothing other than a pressure by Moscow in the direction of Armenia with the following logic: either forget the two claims of the mediators and agree on concessions or …. Again war? It turns out that the representatives of the co-chair countries continue to demand from Aliyev (though the call is not directed directly to Aliyev) to respect the reached agreements on the fulfillment of confidence-building measures while Lavrov pushes Aliyev to deny these important claims again.
Another noteworthy episode was the information after the meetings held in the framework of the OSCE Foreign Ministerial Council session in Hamburg and after the statements intensively raised for a few days about the Karabakh conflict settlement that Russia was engaged in discussions with Turkey on Karabakh issue. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s visit to Russia resulted in the fact that Turkey and Russia agreed to intensify the efforts aimed at the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, according to the media, this was reported by the Head of the Turkey-Russia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, Recai Berber. “Obviously, the solution to this problem will result in stability in the region and increase of welfare of its citizens. Turkey wants to have good relations with Armenia like the relations between Turkey and Georgia. But the way to good relations between Yerevan and Ankara passes through Karabakh,” noted Berber.
The Russian official, President of the Committee on Information Policy Affairs of the Russian Federation Council, Alexei Pushkov, recently considered his duty to emphasize that the creation of joint Armenian-Russian troops “causes no problem for Azerbaijan because Azerbaijan is Russia’s closest strategic partner.” As Pushkov said, the expansion of Russia’s influence in the region cannot be directed against Azerbaijan, “Moscow is keeping a balance between Baku and Yerevan. I think that Moscow does not break and will not break this balance. Azerbaijan is Russia’s strategic partner. We cooperate with Armenia within the framework of the CSTO and the Eurasian Union. I think that Baku has a clear understanding on this. I see nothing in Russia’s policy that can cause anxiety for Azerbaijan.”
In the current situation, perhaps, the following phrase mentioned by RA President Serzh Sargsyan at the meeting with art workers in Stepanakert was not accidental, saying that “at this point, there are no negotiations.” And in response to the Director of the Yerevan Puppet Theater, Ruben Babayan’s question of why the President decided to visit Karabakh especially now, Serzh Sargsyan noted, “It is an inner compulsion because now it is the period when both the army and the population and the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh must be ready for hard times…”
EMMA GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” Daily
15.12.2016
