View from Moscow: The West has a desire to get involved in the  settlement of problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But there is  no such opportunity

ArmInfo.The West has a desire to get involved in the settlement of the current problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But there is no such opportunity. Alexander  Skakov, expert on Caucasus, Deputy Director of the Institute of  Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed such  an opinion to ArmInfo.

"The current situation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan  is close to a dead end. In general, the problem arose after the  transfer of the Kelbajar region to Azerbaijan, which led to the  creation of a virtually undefined border between Armenia and  Azerbaijan. This in fact has led to the need of demarcation and  delimitation," he stressed.

Commenting on the issue of the ownership of the territories of  Armenia, on which the Azerbaijani military continue to stand today,  Skakov referred to the absence of one Soviet map, which would allow  defining the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to him,  there are many such maps and the differences in their data are a  rather serious problem. First of all, since it allows each of the  parties to refer to exclusively those Soviet maps, which they  consider advantageous in order to prove the ownership of Black Lake  (Sev Lich).

Noting the absence of a single, universally recognized map, which  allows resolving the issue without disputes, the Caucasian expert  determined the existence of the current deadlock by this fact. At the  same time, he expressed his conviction that all issues should be  resolved by the parties through negotiations and necessarily with the  mediation of Moscow. In this light, he noted that the Syunik region  of Armenia is the zone of responsibility of the Russian border  guards, who are already participating in the process of determining  the borders.

Noting the absence of a single, universally recognized map, which  allows resolving the issue without disputes, the Caucasian expert  determined the existence of the current deadlock by this fact. At the  same time, he expressed his conviction that all issues should be  resolved by the parties through negotiations and necessarily with the  mediation of Moscow. In this light, he noted that the Syunik region  of Armenia is the zone of responsibility of the Russian border  guards, who are already participating in the process of determining  the borders.

"The process is being delayed for obvious reasons, and we see that  this causes discontent in Armenia. In this light, the visit of the  acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan to Paris and  Brussels is noteworthy. Apparently, in Yerevan there is an intention  to attract the West, in particular, the European Union, in the  process of determining the borders with Azerbaijan. This is evidenced  by the statements and proposals from Paris and Brussels that followed  Pashinyan's visit, "he stressed.  June 1 in Paris, acting Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with French President Emmanuel  Macron, Speaker of the French National Assembly Richard Ferrand,  Senate President Gerard Larcher, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. On June 2,  Pashinyan went to Brussels, where he met with his Belgian counterpart  Alexander de Croo.

Meanwhile, according to the Caucasian expert, Moscow still acts in  the direction of achieving a way out of the current situation, but  acts more in a non-public space. First of all, due to the complexity  of the task and the problems set before it by Yerevan and Baku. And  unlike the West, it has levers and mechanisms for this in relations  with both sides of the conflict. And the current proposal of Russia  to determine the borders, in his opinion, as a whole, is the best  possible way to conduct further negotiations towards a settlement.

"And finally, the most important thing. The EU's desire to take part  in the settlement of border problems does not meet with any desire in  Baku to meet them halfway. We see that Baku, unlike Yerevan, feels  quite comfortable in the current trilateral settlement format with  the participation of Russia. Thus, the presence in the West of a  desire to get involved in the settlement of the current problems  between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not mean at all that such an  opportunity will be provided by Baku, "the Caucasian expert summed  up.