Armenian political analysts see no progress in Ilham Aliev’s talks with Serzh Sargsyan

The statement by Ilham Aliev and Serzh Sargsyan does not reflect any concrete steps to reduce tension and resolve the conflict. This opinion has been expressed by political observer Stepan Safaryan. The progress is being hampered by the position of Russia, believes expert Ruben Megrabyan.

On October 16, in Geneva, the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia decided to take additional steps to reduce tension along the contact line of the troops, as well as to intensify the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent expressed their scepticism about the results of the talks. Nagorno-Karabakh insists on its participation in the negotiations.

The meeting will help revive the Minsk process, notes political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan, the director of the Caucasus Institute. He believes the mediators are trying to prevent a new round of violence.

According to Ruben Megrabyan, an expert from the Centre for Political and International Studies, Russia uses the Karabakh conflict as a tool of pressure on both sides.

"Moscow uses Azerbaijan to blackmail Yerevan by a resumption of the war ... On the other hand, the presence of the conflict opens the Azerbaijani market for Russian weapons," Ruben Megrabyan has explained.

Stepan Safaryan did not rule out that Armenia has refused to insist on the implementation of the Vienna agreements under the pressure of Russia, which "benefits from the Karabakh conflict."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.