Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Presently, there is a situation in which the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement may again come to a standstill. Following in the footsteps of the previous authorities, the new Armenian leadership is trying to preserve the long-term status quo in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

“The advancement of the negotiation process on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh depends on two conditions: the desire of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to resolve this issue and the presence of contacts between them,” Russian political consultant Dmitry Fetisov said in an interview with Azernews.

He believes that Pashinyan shows that he is ready to communicate with Azerbaijan, albeit with a number of reservations, but he does not demonstrate a desire to resolve the issue.

“Because of this, it seems that it is beneficial for Armenian PM to use the current situation on Nagorno-Karabakh in his political interests," Fetisov added.

Speaking of the recent repeated Armenian provocations, in particular, the killing of Azerbaijani servicemen on the frontline, Fetisov noted that Azerbaijan values ​​its image and role in the world community, under the close attention of which there is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Therefore, Azerbaijan is unlikely to succumb to provocations. The country is likely to continue to follow the reached agreements to ease tensions," the expert stressed.

Commenting on the Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan’s “new war - new territories” statement, Fetisov mentioned that Armenia’s economy is now in such a state that it simply cannot survive any new war.

"Moreover, a war outbreak by Armenia will cause the application of international sanctions against Yerevan", he added.

The expert also spoke about the impact of the dispute between the Karabakh and Yerevan Armenians on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The dispute started because of the detention of the ex-president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, who is the representative of the so-called “Karabakh clan” in Armenia.

Fetisov emphasized that at the moment it is too early to say that the disagreement between the Karabakh and Yerevan Armenians will seriously affect the situation on Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Kocharyan’s case is only gaining momentum and it is not known how this or that side will use this. In any case, I think that Azerbaijan will closely monitor this matter and prepare for a variety of scenarios that may occur during the development of Kocharyan’s case," the expert concluded.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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