No turnabout
Serzh Sargsyan leaves today for St. Petersburg at the invitation of the Russian President and a trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Russian and Azeri presidents is scheduled as well.
However, political scientist Sergey Minasyan doesn't think there will be a turnabout in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
"I don't think speeding up processes in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone is in the interests of foreign powers, including Russia. It is also clear that the conflicting sides also don't have the desire for concessions and I especially don't think any side is ready for a unilateral concession," he said.
As far as the restart of military operations is concerned, Sergey Minasyan views that possible. "There will not be a war, but Azerbaijan will continue the war declarations," says the political scientist, adding that that is the only way for Azerbaijan to pressure the parties and the co-chairs, but "Azerbaijan doesn't have the power and opportunity to violate the status-quo."
In that sense, the status-quo will remain and, according to the political scientist, it actually favors both the Armenian side and foreign powers.
"Azerbaijan is the only one trying to change the status-quo, but only through war declarations."
As far as the comments that the unresolved Karabakh conflict is standing in the way of Armenia's development, Sergey Minasyan notes that Azerbaijan is usually the one giving those kinds of evaluations. They are interested in any advancement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and take advantage of every opportunity to activate the process.
"In reality, the Azeri realize that time is on Armenia's side and against them," says the political scientist.
