ArmInfo.The OSCE Minsk Group's resumed activities to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will, beyond doubt, escalate the border tension caused due to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's efforts, Stepan Safaryan of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs told ArmInfo.
"This is my opinion of the risks of this process. And the agencies responsible for Armenia's national security must perfectly realize it. This outlook is by no means dependent on the disagreements between the OSCE MG co-chairs, which have become much sharper since the end of the 44-day war. It is clear, the USA and France could by no means applaud Russia's provisional plan on Artsakh," he said.
As regards the Azerbaijani aggression on the border in Armenia's Gegharkunik region on January 11, which claimed the lives of three Armenian soldiers, Mr Safaryan stressed he expected such developments. First of all, in view of the statement by the foreign ministers of the OSCE MG co-chairing countries late last year. That statement served as a basis for such a conclusion, with relevant risk assessments.
According to Mr Safaryan, although not specifically addressed, the statement by Antony Blinken, Sergey Lavrov and Jean-Yves Le Drian was a rather strong-worded one and primarily addressed to President Ilham Aliyev - particularly, the part of the statement underlining a need for the OSCE MG co-chairs' return to the region, and not only to Yerevan and Baku. And the conflicting parties should welcome this need. In response, the Azerbaijani dictator threatened to prevent the co-chairs' work.
"If we remember the frosty reception Aliyev gave to the co-chairs during their first visit to Baku after the 44-day war, we can understand that Washington and Paris are fed up with his behavior. And now that the co-chairs are preparing to visit the region Aliyev, by means of his statements and murders on the border, is demonstrating he is not at all waiting for either the December agenda or the co-chairs themselves. Thus, the developments on our border are part of the Aliyev-OSCE MG confrontation." Mr Safaryan said.