ArmInfo. The outcome of the war is still decided at the front, not in the United States, Russia or France. Despite the recent mediation efforts of the Trump administration, this assertion, unfortunately, still remains valid. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by the director of the Caucasus Institute, a member of the Valdai club Alexander Iskandaryan.
On October 24, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, at a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Bigan, "reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement for humanitarian purposes." On October 25, the State Department announced the return of the parties to the conflict to a ceasefire at 08:00 on October 26. This is already the third initiative on a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, however, according to the Artsakh Defense Army, Azerbaijan has already violated this ceasefire.
Commenting on the Valdai speech of Russian President Putin, the political scientist highlighted Moscow's intention to continue making efforts towards achieving a settlement of the current situation around Artsakh and, more broadly, a settlement of the conflict. At the same time, according to his forecasts, one should not expect an unambiguous turn of Russia in one direction or another of the conflict. Emphasizing the direct discrepancy between the continuation of the war in Artsakh and Russia's interests, Iskandaryan noted the discrepancy in this issue between Moscow and Ankara.
Speaking on October 22 at the Valdai Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented in great detail the main priorities and position of Russia in the current war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He also commented on the current level of relations with Turkey, describing very flatteringly its President Erdogan. On the whole, the speech of the Russian president was of an emphatically neutral character. "Thus, the geopolitical situation around the conflict remains rather complicated. And we can already state that political means: statements, calls and attempts at an armistice are not enough to end the war. And Russia will not take direct part in this war. In this light, one can only hope that sooner or later the war will still be stopped by purely political tools. We see that this toolbox is still not exhausted, "Iskandaryan summed up.