Azernews.Az

Rena Murshud

Read more

Global competitiveness and power challenge have made both the West and Russia to maintain their influence in the ongoing Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. Following the recent meeting of the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the discussion over the problem made the Kremlin's top diplomat Dmitry Peskov to voice a concern over the matter. He made a statement that "trilateral agreements are the only basis for resolving the situation". But for some reason, despite the proposal for a trilateral agreement that comes from Russia, Armenia opposes to sit at the negotiation table with Azerbaijan.

In reality, Armenia, which carries out Russia's orders, either behaves like whimsical or tries to show itself as an independent decision-maker. A questionable moment arises in the middle; either Russia is playing games or Armenia has gone astray from its orbit...

A Ukrainian political analyst, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksandr Oleksandrovich Merezhko, who commented on the issue to Azernews, called Russia's mediation void.

"Under no circumstances should Russia be trusted. Especially in relation to neighboring states"- Merezhko said.

In response to another question that if Russia is not a trusted partner, then what is the role of the Russian peacekeeping troops, which have temporarily been stationed in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, the expert said:

"There is no doubt that it is in the interests of Azerbaijan that Russian troops leave Karabakh and the South Caucasus region as soon as possible," he replied.

Besides, an Azerbaijani Political analyst Ilgar Valizade provided a supportive answer to the expert's comment, saying that there are only a couple years left till the peacekeeping contingent to complete its duty in the country.

"In 2025 the mission of the peacekeeping contingent expires, and if they don't fulfill their duties properly during this period, it is likely that Azerbaijan will demand the withdrawal of the troops from the region. Russia is just trying to maintain its presence in the region, and I think after 2025 they will not be needed here," the pundit said.

Ilgar Valizade added that despite the presence of the peacekeeping troops in the region, and even the verbal support by the EU and the US none of the parties could deter Armenia from resorting provocations.

"Unfortunately, provocations continue. For this reason, peace talks are in doubt. Although efforts have been made by various countries and administrations on this topic, it has not been of any avail. As for the statement made by Russia, they are more concerned about the efforts of the West rather than solution to the ongoing problem. Besides, Armenia still ignores the opinion of all parties, including Russia," Valizade opined.

The mixed opinions that exist both in the ruling circle and in the Armenian society have once again confused Russia. Last week, a group of Armenians on social networks said that they would recognize the territory of Azerbaijan if Russia grants them citizenship, which caused a wide discussion among the Russian public.

"Armenian public propagates all kinds of stupid ideas as usual. I think this is one of them," the Russian historian Oleg Kuznetsov said as he commented on the demand of a group of Armenians for Russian citizenship. He also shared an incident in the past related to the similar problem: "I remember the Armenians proposed to erect a monument to the Nazi criminal Garegin Nzhdeh near the prison in the city of Vladimir, where he was serving his sentence. Naturally, this idea was actively exaggerated in the Armenian press. And in Russia, it was completely ignored as a crazy and foolish idea in any way."

As regards Armenia's recognising the Azerbaijani territories, Ukrainina expert Oleksandr Merezhko said that the condition of recognising Azerbaijan's territorial integrity by Armenia is not within international law.

"Karabakh is a territory under the full sovereignty of Azerbaijan. I think it is not so important for Azerbaijan that its territorial integrity be "recognised" by everyone. The main thing is that all states respect this idea. This is their international legal obligation. Therefore, it is impossible to put forward any additional conditions in this matter," he added.

---

Follow Rena Murshud on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz