The Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks will become effective only when the conflicting parties guarantee that there will be no more war. By acting contrary to its peaceful
declarations Azerbaijan is protracting the existing status quo to the detriment of its own interests, Vladimir Kazimirov, former Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said during a meeting organized by Rossotrudnichestvo in Yerevan on Thursday.
According to Kazimirov, they in Baku have finally realized that they will not be able to liberate their territories in one day. But they are still reluctant to sacrifice something for this purpose. Now that they keep threatening the Armenians with a new war, the latter will hardly withdraw from their current positions.
Kazimirov believes that the current status quo is good for the Armenians as it allows them to put off their withdrawal. But they should know that the "occupied territories" are the key irritant for the Azeris.
What the conflicting parties need here, according to Kazimirov, is first of all to guarantee that there will be no more war by signing an agreement on nonuse of force. Azerbaijan keeps refusing to do it, which is bad for the peace talks and confidence building efforts.