American Footprints
October 27 2008

Russian Karabakh Initiative

Brian Ulrich Oct 27 2008 – 6:10pm

Russia is making a major push to resolve the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh:

"Russia has taken the center stage in international efforts to resolve
the Karabakh conflict, which could yield a breakthrough before the end
of this year. President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to host a
potentially decisive meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani
counterparts next month. Moscow may thus be trying to sideline the
OSCE’s so-called Minsk Group on Karabakh, which it has long
co-chaired with the United States and France…

"Many analysts in the South Caucasus and the West have long contended
that Russia was uninterested in a Karabakh settlement, lest it lose
leverage against Azerbaijan and, even more, Armenia, its main ally in
the region. Peace with Azerbaijan, they have argued, would reduce the
significance for Armenia of maintaining close military ties with
Russia and make the Armenian economy less dependent on Russian energy
supplies. Medvedev’s desire to host the crucial Aliyev-Sarkisian
encounter is, however, a clear indication that Karabakh peace is not
necessarily incompatible with Russian goals and interests in the
region, especially if Moscow plays a key role in a multinational
peace-keeping force that would have to be deployed in the conflict
zone. " Armenia is rife with speculation that Moscow is trying to
cajole Azerbaijan into agreeing to a Russian troop presence and
pursuing a more pro-Russian policy on other issues, notably the
transportation of Caspian oil and gas to the West. ‘To that end [the
Russians] need to force Armenia into making essentially unilateral and
absolutely unacceptable concessions on the Karabakh issue,’ Yerkir, a
Yerevan weekly controlled by the governing Armenian Revolutionary
Federation party, wrote on October 24, reflecting the growing opinion
among local observers."

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress