Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 7 2009

Neither U.S. nor Russia can resolve conflicts in Caucasus without
willingness of involved sides: U.S. political expert Zbigniew
Brzezinski 06.03.09 14:27

Azerbaijan, Baku, March 6 /Trend News, E. Ostapenko/

Senior American expert Zbigniew Brzezinski says the resolution of the
territorial conflicts in the South Caucasus depends on preparedness of
the conflicting sides to make compromise rather than willingness of
superpowers such as the U.S. and Russia.

"I do not believe that the U.S. or Russia can resolve these problems
on their own," former adviser on national security to the Jimmy Carter
Administration and well-known U.S. political expert and professor at
the John Hopkins University Zbigniew Brzezinski told Trend News in a
an exclusive interview via telephone from Washington.

There are two unresolved conflicts in the South Caucasus. One is
between Armenia and Azerbaijan due to Armenia’s territorial claims to
Nagorno-Karabakh and the conflict that recently erupted in Georgia
after Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia. Moreover,
the Armenia-Turkey diplomatic relations have been severed due to
Armenia’s anti-Turkey ‘Armenian genocide’ campaign and occupation of
20 percent of Azerbaijani lands.

Brzezinski believes that the countries directly involved in the
conflicts have the capacity to either move towards a compromise or
insist on the status quo for one reason or another. He said it does
not mean that they can resolve conflicts themselves, but attitude of
the involved countries to the process of the conflict resolution is
important.

"Their attitude and willingness to reach a compromise is ultimately a
very important element in this very complicated process," he said. "So
one should not overestimate the degree to which a constructive
resolution of the so-called frozen conflicts depends on the U.S. or
Russia."

Moscow is directly involved in the conflict in Georgia, but that does
not necessarily give it the capacity to resolve so-called frozen
conflicts, Brzezinski said. Moscow contributed to resolving these
conflicts through diplomatic initiatives and by emphasizing
established international principles regarding territorial integrity
and national sovereignty, he said.

"The U.S. can also be helpful," Brzezinski said.