Thursday, April 18 2019 12:59

ArmInfo.Moscow's attempt to assist Baku in the Artsakh issue is due to the threat that the strategic alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkey poses to Russian  interests, Head of the Armenian Center for National and Strategic  Studies Manvel Sargsyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"Russia has been trying to isolate Azerbaijan from Turkey for years,  and has not succeeded in its attempts so far. It is for this reason  that Moscow occasionally makes concessions on various issues, which  are insignificant for itself but significant for Azerbaijan. But, by  and large, Russia keeps Azerbaijan in its own orbit, as a rule, at  the expense of Armenia's interests, "he stressed.

According to analyst estimates, following the escalation of April  2016 agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg on the  introduction of mechanisms for investigating incidents at the border,  were frozen by Baku precisely with the support of Moscow. And Russia  took this step, going towards and in the interests of Azerbaijan.

"According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the OSCE Minsk  Group accepted the agenda proposed by Armenia, which is unacceptable  for Azerbaijan. The matter concerns clarifying the Madrid principles,  discussing the return of Artsakh to the negotiating table. All this  creates great difficulties for Baku, but it's necessary to discuss  these issues and the co-chairs cannot refuse it, "he stressed.

As a result, according to the analyst, Baku again went the beaten  path and appealed for help to Moscow with a request not to let  Yerevan introduce its own agenda into the talks. And Moscow once  again responded to this request. In this light, Armenia, according to  Sargsyan, should  force Russia as well to adopt its own agenda .  Moreover, it should be done calmly, remembering that it was Russia  that in 1993 was the first to recognize Artsakh as a full party to  the negotiations.

"It is necessary to work with Russia, step by step trying to explain  that they have long recognized Artsakh as a party to the conflict. I  hope that the Armenian side insisted to the maximum and justified the  need to implement its own negotiation agenda on April 15 in Moscow at  a meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan  with participation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ",  Sargsyan concluded.

Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group has been involved in resolving the  Karabakh conflict, represented by the co-chairs from Russia, the  United States and France. At present, the settlement process is  proceeding on the basis of the Madrid Principles put forward by the  OSCE Minsk Group in 2007 and the Madrid Principles updated in 2009,  which, among other things, provide for the deployment of a  peacekeeping force in the conflict zone.