“Russia was given carte blanche”
Russian Foreign Minister's visit to Yerevan and Baku will not mark a turning point in the talks over the Karabakh conflict settlement, says political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan.
Sergei Lavrov is coming to the region to pass the conflicting sides the message of Russian President on the Karabakh peace deal.
The political scientist does not anticipate any breakthrough in the negotiations in the nearest future.
"Progress implies serious changes. Political figures speak a lot which is characteristic of them but these are only hollow words: nothing changes from their talks," said Iskandaryan.
The political scientist does not pin hopes on the upcoming regional visit of the OSCE Minsk Group C-Chairs either.
Speaking about the statement of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, that the sides will reach an agreement over the Basic Principles of the conflict resolution by the yearend, Iskandaryan said, "Catherine Ashton is a political figure and I view her statement as a tool. She meant to say that the continuation of the peace talks is more preferable at the moment."
Iskandaryan says there will be no agreement on the key principles by the yearend.
"Has there been any change to predict progress in the talks?" he wondered.
The political scientist also disagrees with EU official's opinion that the maintenance of status quo is inadmissible now. "Status quo will be preserved by the turn of the year and even later," he said.
Iskandaryan says Russia has assumed an active role in the negotiation process since the Maindorf meeting of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents.
"This is not accidental. Russia was given carte blanche after the Russian-Georgian conflict which made it easy for Russia to work in the region," he concluded.
