ArmInfo. The most right strategy in moving forward in Karabakh conflict settlement issue is moving by small steps. The former co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group from the USA, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, stated this in an interview with Voice of America.
In his opinion, the new authorities of Armenia use the right tactics in the Karabakh settlement. At the same time, according to the diplomat, the Karabakh conflict for Pashinyan is a very difficult problem: "After so many years Armenia's leader is not from Karabakh, thus he must be very attentive not to make radical changes but approach the issue step by step," Hoagland said. ". According to him, the positive dialogue is already ongoing dialogue between the parties and a sharp reduction in incidents in the conflict zone. However, he advises not to wait for serious breakthroughs.
Referring to the so-called "Lavrov's project" , the American diplomat remarked that he was not approved by any of the parties. According to him, this document was based on the Madrid principles with some differences: ""The main difference is the proposal of conduction of referendum in Nagorno Karabakh and in the Azerbaijani settlements where displaced Azerbaijanis live," Hoagland said, adding that the document has not been approved by the sides due to absence of exact date for conduction of referendum. The former co-chair also stressed that besides serious disagreements over conflict settlement, there are forces in the region who are not interested in the Karabakh conflict resolution. "The real issue is whether the countries of the region are interested in the regulation of the issue or not. I think Iran is interested in the resolution of the issue, but does Russia really interested in it? The answer is not definite," he said, adding that there are forces in Moscow which think that in case of Karabakh conflict settlement they will lose important levers of influence on the sides.