Expert: statement of American mediator shows that Washington wants to  take the leading role in Karabakh settlement

ArmInfo.The announcement by US Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland of six elements on the Karabakh settlement may indicate the desire of the United States to seize the initiative from Russia as the leading mediator in the Karabakh settlement and take a leading role in this process amid the crisis in relations between Moscow and Washington, the director of  the Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan  expressed such an opinion during the conversation with ArmInfo correspondent.

"Hoagland's statement means that the United States has intensified in  the process of the Karabakh settlement," the expert said, while not  excluding the possibility that Hoagland's statement was agreed with  the Russian and American mediators of OSCE Minsk Group. According to  him, the co-chairs of the Minsk Group understand that the successful  outcome of the upcoming meeting in October between the foreign  ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandyan and Elmar  Mamedyarov in New York is possible only if conditions that are  acceptable to both sides are presented. "The goal of this meeting at  the moment is the resumption of the negotiation process between the  Armenian and Azerbaijani sides. The mediators also want to show the  parties that there is an option that is convenient and acceptable for  them. Thus, another and perhaps the main goal of Hoagland was to show  that a peaceful settlement is possible and encourage the parties to  resume the negotiation process, "the expert concluded.