President Serzh Sargsyan may decide not to attend the OSCE summit in Astana on 1 and 2 December, according to opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak.
The Armenian leader did not attend the recent NATO summit in Lisbon and the Armenian authorities are reportedly considering a similar boycott of the Astana summit.
The United States is insisting on the signing of a document on Karabakh at the summit, which envisages the surrender of two districts to Azerbaijan, the newspaper said.
Ankara is reported to have guaranteed the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border if two districts are surrendered to Azerbaijan. The signing of the agreement in Astana would start a 2+5 process. Peacekeepers from Poland, Romania and Hungary would be placed in the territories to ensure the security of Karabakh. But these developments do not satisfy Russia, which does not want to see NATO-led troops in the region, according to Haykakan Zhamanak. This is the reason for the trilateral meetings of the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.
The newspaper puts at 50-50 the chances of any document being agreed in Astana. A declaration may be adopted similar to the NATO Lisbon declaration, which affirms the importance of the resolution of frozen conflicts on the basis of the principles of territorial integrity. The pro-authorities camp thinks the president will go to Astana, according to Haykakan Zhamanak, but acknowledge that he is in a difficult position. The newspaper, said that even if Sargsyan decided not to go, this would merely delay the problem since Russia and the United States were interested in a resolution of the conflict as soon as possible.
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