“I think there isn’t any possibility for either of Karabakh conflict settlement options to become true, given the rather complicated and uncompromising situation, which was formed after the war in April 2016. I do not think any co-chairing country, including the United States, is so naïve to think that the settlement is very close, and to start talking about this or that option”, the founder of the Armenian Institute for International and Security Policy, political scientist Styopa Safaryan expressed such an opinion, touching upon the recent statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
Safaryan noticed that official Yerevan responded quickly to this statement, noting that the details published by Hoagland are not dangerous for Armenia, also pointing out that there are some inaccuracies in the principles published.
According to Safaryan, this statement was not accidental, as the same day in Sochi was Serzh Sargsyan-Vladimir Putin meeting, on the agenda of which was also the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. And the day before that meeting, Putin also met with the Azerbaijani president.
A meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries is scheduled within the framework of the UN General Assembly session in September, and there are unfulfilled obligations of Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Obviously, Russia would like Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue the St. Petersburg line, but not the obligations of Vienna under the aegis of the United States”, said Mr. Safaryan.
He pointed out that the agenda of the Sargsyan-Putin meeting included also the integration issues of the EAEU, and one of the most important events of the recent period is the free trade agreement to be signed between Turkey and the EAEU: “The Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia also responded to that, noting the fact that the border is closed, and therefore, if this issue was important for Turkey and Russia, then Russia could not ignore the position of Armenia”.
Whether what, in Safaryan’s words, had Hoagland searched for in the text with some inaccuracies, Safaryan commented: “The US could not be aware of Sargsyan-Putin talk, so he was trying to understand whether there were made changes in the positions of the Armenian side, and whether Armenia again, for the second time, enters into a process that has brought us all the known results”.
According to Safaryan, Hoagland’s statement with inaccuracies, which was somewhat similar to the Kazan document, but also in 2 points reminded that the conflict should be resolved comprehensively, by the final decision of the NKR status, and peacekeepers must be international and non-Russian: “Making clear that the Kazan document should be forgotten. I have to appreciate the step taken by the American Co-Chair, because in the recent situation, it is one of the best options for Armenia to send the Kazan document to archive forever”.
Nelly BABAYAN
