Tuesday, February 26 2019 11:21

ArmInfo. Of course, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov, certainly have something to talk about at numerous meetings. However there is still nothing to agree on. Such an opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Russian analyst, expert on the Caucasus, Sergey Markedonov.

"The indirect evidence of this thesis is never held meeting of  foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at Munich Security  Conference. And this, despite the fact, that both were at the same  time in the capital of Bavaria. However, at first glance, in the  current conditions, this lack of results is also a peculiar result,  "the analyst believes.

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani FM  Elmar Mammadyarov met 5 times in less than a year. The sixth  ministerial meeting was expected on the margins of the Munich  Security Conference, however, this time Mnatsakanyan and Mammadyarov  did not take the opportunity. At the same time, coming to power, the  new Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan managed to meet with  Ilham Aliyev three times, moreover, all three meetings were  unofficial.

According to Markedonov's assessment, optimistic forecasts in favor  of a speedy resolution of the conflict are just as unfounded as the  alarmism of critics of the Armenian government. The latter thoroughly  fanned alarmist sentiments, considering the optimism of the foreign  ministers as a threshold of unreasonable concessions. The real state  of affairs in the negotiation process, according to the analyst,  reflected the statement made in early February by Mnatsakanyan in  parliament according to which it is not necessary to hurry with the  official meeting of Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev.

"In this sense, Munich clearly did not discover anything new, only  confirming the well-known trend.  Considering that it is difficult  for Pashinyan and Aliyev to go on substantive talks, it is the level  of foreign ministers that remains the highest negotiation format.  Informal meetings are better suitable for tactical discussions, as  the strategic decision is obviously not agreed upon, "he stressed.

According to the analyst, in the conditions of the incomplete  formation of statehood in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the majority  support is given to politicians to achieve peace, which, at a  minimum, would not be interpreted as a national defeat. The  democratic opposition in the conflicting countries on the issue of  Karabakh often takes a more rigid position than the government. Just  because, unlike the government, it is not involved in the negotiation  process and is not responsible for the statements and steps.

Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from  Russia, the United States and France, has been involved in resolving  the Karabakh conflict. Since the signing of the trilateral agreement  on the establishment of a truce between the parties to the Karabakh  conflict, almost a quarter of a century has passed. And all these  years, surges of murders on the Line of Contact have been  interspersed with negotiations towards peace. However, since the end  of last year, the killings have practically stopped, and the OSCE MG  mediators, Baku and Yerevan, have started talking about the need to  prepare the parties to the conflict for peace.