ArmInfo.For the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations after the 44- day war to follow a different course Armenia itself has to become different, Alexandr Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute, told ArmInfo.
"We must come to realize that Russia is not going to defend us if we do not do it ourselves, and Azerbaijan will go on dealing with us just as it has been doing over the last year. And it will go on acting so until our military personnel - rather than shepherds or heads of village communities - meet their military personnel. In this context I regards the trilateral statement adopted in Sochi on November 20 as a follow-up to the previous two statements. Yes, it indicates a need for the parties to observe all the points of the statements of November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021," the expert said.
In this context, commenting on the Arstakh problem settlement prospects, Iskandaryan pointed out a tendency to differentiate the Artsakh problem from the border hazards. It is not at all border delimitation that is in question now. Rather, it is the negotiations over creating the conditions for the rather complicated process, which can normally last for decades.
In this context, the expert said that Russia`s position is admitting the impossibility of resolving the Karabakh problem in a situation of problems in almost all the fields of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Iskandaryan proposes focusing on resolving other, relatively minor problems. And it is only progress in the bi- or trilateral format that will enable the sides to revert to the others, especially the Artsakh problem. And, with few exceptions, the positions of Armenia and Russia coincide, he said.
In this context, Iskandaryan regards on more attempt - the Sochi meeting - to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle disputes by means of negotiations as a commendable step. However, he doubts that, even after starting the negotiations, Baku will stop firing. In commenting Yerevan`s response, the expert noted that "thinking that giving up something to the one demanding in the hope that this one lets you alone," is extremely dangerous. Experience proves quite the opposite.
"Perhaps, our major problem is our not understanding all that is going on around us - both in the region and far beyond its borders. And I could tell you even more: Armenia is unaware of the need to understand geopolitical processes. And the process under way is the South Caucasus` declining importance for the world. Numerous objective parameters are evidence thereof. And this process is not fully dependent on us. And the results of the 44-day war showed that it is time for regional forces rather than for global ones in the world. All the sides made their statements, and Russia and Turkey 'took and shared the region'. And this is what must be realized and the point to proceed from in making all the further calculations," Iskandaryan said.