Political scientist: Yerevan should not resume negotiations until Nagorno-Karabakh returns to negotiation table

Yerevan should not resume negotiations on peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict until Nagorno Karabakh returns to negotiation table, Head of Armenian Institute for International and Security Issues Stepan Safaryan stated at today's press-conference. 

According to him, the meetings of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should be considered outside the negotiation process, as it is obvious that their format significantly differs from the meetings and negotiations before the April war. 

"The fact that the ministers will not meet testify to certain changes, possibly the stands have now become more tough", he noted adding that Yerevan should insist on establishment of monitoring mechanisms on the line of contact, adequate assessment of Baku's aggression and Artsakh's return to negotiation table.  Otherwise the negotiation will again demonstrate stagnation and will not give any results. Establishment of mechanism in its turn will lead to reduction of the number of incidents as the violator side will be known", he stressed. 

At the same time the political scientist expressed concerns related to the fact that President Serzh Sargsyan and former Artsakh Minister of Defense Samvel Babayan as well as Armenian experts and politicians stopped naming April events a war. "Most likely external forces are exerting pressure to prevent calling a spade a spade, as this will lessen the importance of what had happened and help Baku to avoid responsibility, however it is not clear why Yerevan agrees to this", he emphasized. 

To note, the meeting of the co-chairs with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was held in Brussels on May 31 and the meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will take place on June 2. James Warlick, US Co- Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, tweeted yesterday that OSCE Minsk Group hopes the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will take place in June.