MOSCOW DECLARATION TO REMAIN ON PAPER WITHOUT KARABAKH PARTICIPATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2008 13:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A 5-item declaration was signed by the Presidents
of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 2.

"It’s not accidental that the declaration was sealed on the threshold
of presidential election in the U.S., whose interest to the Caucasus
has waned recently," Andrey Areshev, head of Moscow-based Strategic
Culture Fund, commented to a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The declaration is rather vague, what is quite natural in case
of complicated conflicts, according to him "The norms of the
international law will be interpreted by the sides in compliance
with their diametrically opposite approaches to the problem, as it
was before. But actually, the agreement to continue peaceful talks
is worthy of praise," Areshev said.

"Mention of the OSCE Minsk Group role in the process is, to all
appearance, a sedative measure for the U.S. and EU, which always
suspect Russia of "imperial ambitions" and whose activity in the
Caucasus is conditioned by the wish to secure their economic and
strategic interests in the region," he added.

At that, the expert made special mention of item 3 of the declaration,
which says that "the sides (including Russia) agree that peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be achieved through
international guarantees."

"Neither the degree of these guarantees nor their parameters have been
outlined yet. With the status of Karabakh undetermined, deployment
of peacekeeping force in the security zone might ‘unfreeze’ the
conflict. Resolution is impossible without engaging Stepanakert as
a full-fledged party in talks, in compliance with the 1994 Budapest
summit agreement and other fundamental documents. The Declaration will
remain on paper without NKR’s participation in the process," he said.

"Declaration is an interim step meant to assert Russia’s positions in
resolution of Caucasus conflicts. However, attempts to neglect the
future status of Karabakh and guarantees of its security are doomed
to failure," Andrey Areshev concluded.