Azerbaijan and Armenia must continue the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Russian expert Anatoly Tsiganok stated in an interview with Day.az.
The negotiation process remains in stalemate. However, with through the OSCE MG Co-Chairs’ mediation, the negotiations will go on, with official conclusions to be made. The reason is that the interests of the major external actors – Moscow, Washington and Brussels – are convergent at some points, but conflicting at others. Moscow is “behind” the status quo being observed now. “Moscow would agree to a change in the status quo provided, however, that a full-scale peacemaking operation is carried out, and Russian peacemakers are deployed on the line of contact,” Tisganok said.
In their turn, Brussels and Washington propose the deployment of pacemakers representing the nations that do not have any immediate interests in the region or borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia. Also, they insist that the peacemaking missions not be composed of forces of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, the expert said.
Tsiganok also holds the opinion that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict largely depends on Washington. “Why so? We should not forget that, along with its annual assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, the U.S. renders assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh. Washington may at any moment stop doing it, which will have a serious impact on the negotiation process,” he said.
According to him, this seemingly local conflict, may, if intensified, cause a third world war. Once NATO sides with Azerbaijan, and Russia with Armenia, a third world war is sure to begin.
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