Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

As the situation over the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region remains tense, Moscow has activated its ‘shuttle diplomacy’ to find a fair method of resolving the long lasting Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again on April 2 when Yerevan tried to provoke a war and repeatedly violated the ceasefire through firing on civilians.

Azerbaijan has replied with a strong counter attack and later unilaterally called on truce, but the Armenian side again resorted to the provocation. The parties to the conflict have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact through the mediation of Russia, which is the co-chair country in the OSCE Minsk Group.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov was expected to visit Baku long before recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the main agenda of his visit has changed after escalation of the conflict. Immediately after arrival in Baku, Lavrov was received by country’s President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the situation.

President Aliyev has once again emphasized that Azerbaijan is committed to continuing the negotiating process, adding that a ceasefire is the only way to prevent an escalation in the region.

“The ceasefire was observed, but unfortunately, the Armenian side violated it,” Ilham Aliyev stressed. “We want to settle this conflict peacefully, on the basis of norms and principles of international law, and I think that all these years, more than 20 years that have passed since the ceasefire, suggest that we seek a political settlement.”

Baku has already announced that the ceasefire does not mean that Azerbaijan’s occupied lands will remain under occupation. Azerbaijan has agreed to ceasefire but warned that it will not turn blind eye if Armenian side commits provocation. Baku is ready for peace and sits at the table of negations, but it will not tolerate the endless occupation of its historical lands.

Lavrov, in turn, stressed that a resumption of hostilities have probably been the worst in the last many years. He added that Russia has undertaken everything necessary to help the parties to the conflict to reach an agreement on a ceasefire.

“We are ready to help to ensure that this arrangement will not be breached,” the Russian foreign minister noted.

Lavrov believes that it is important to calm down the situation in this particular issue. “We have proposals that we, together with the co-chairs, are trying to engage more actively in order to achieve an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” he said, adding that Moscow fully supports the initiatives undertaken by the OSCE MG.

“It is important to take some confidence-building measures as soon as possible and create the necessary prerequisites for a resumption of the political process,” the Russian FM stated.

Lavrov, in his interview with the Russian media, stated that the release of the regions around Karabakh and simultaneous addressing of the issue of its status will allow unlocking the situation in the conflict zone.

Yerevan’s response to these statements will be known in the upcoming days, when Lavrov will meet with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

Moscow’s work to enhance the conciliation of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be continued this weeks, as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is also expected to visit Azerbaijan to discuss the aggravation of the situation in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

Russia, which enjoys much influence on Armenia, has always been considered a key party in brokering a lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

The OSCE Minsk Group, established in 1994 and co-chaired by Moscow, Washington and Paris, could not arrange for a meaningful pathway forward to end the conflict and start moving toward the end of the occupation.

The current situation is absolutely unacceptable for Azerbaijan, which repeatedly stated its dissatisfaction with the Minsk Group activities. The co-chairs of the Group continue to make monotonous statements on the settlement of the conflict. Unfortunately, these statements do not reflect the actual situation.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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