OSCE Minsk Group hardly has any prospects - Alexey Malashenko

ArmInfo. The OSCE Minsk Group's further activities hardly have any prospects, Alexey Malashenko, Senior Researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International  Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), said in an  interview with ArmInfo. 

"I consider the statements on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship  made by Karen Donfried and Maria Zakharova in this context. This is  nothing but intricate diplomatic swordplay in the present strained  geopolitical situation. Nothing else should be expected at the  current stage," he said. 

On June 22, Karen Donfried, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for  European and Eurasian Affairs, stated in Yerevan that, despite the  broken off contacts with Russia, the USA was willing to continue  cooperation in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the OSCE  Minsk Group.

In response, Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry  of Foreign Affairs expressed her doubts about the sincerity of that  statement. According to her, if Washington and Paris really  appreciated thee Minsk Group, they would not have disregarded the  mandate approved by all the member-states. 

In this context, Mr Malashenko believes that all the latest talks  about the OSCE Minsk Group are an "artificial political agenda" both  for Washington, Paris and Brussels and for Moscow. And this agenda  enables the parties to convey certain messages to each other in the  best-case scenario or, in the worst-case scenario, seriously damage  the opponent's international reputation. 

"In fact, fierce rivalry is taking place for mediation in settling  the Armenian-Azerbaijani problems now.  And the West is seeking to  gain the upper hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. And  neither party is capable of thinking of what the OSCE Minsk Group's  activities could be. Clearly, it is causing damage to the peace  process itself, and the lack of results is evidence thereof. And to  resolve the current situation the mediators should abandon the policy  of escalating the regional region," the expert said.