RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
November 2, 2018 Friday
International mediators intensify pursuit for Nagorno-Karabakh solution
by Sergey Strokan; Kirill Krivosheev
Kommersant
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue are on a working visit to the South Caucasus. They have visited the Armenian capital of Yerevan and Stepanakert, the capital of the breakaway Nagorno- Karabakh region, and are set to pay a visit to Azerbaijan's capital of Baku on Thursday.
The mission, which includes representatives of Russia, France and the US, is expected to step up the Nagorno-Karabakh talks following Armenia's regime change in May.
Despite the lack of progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, international mediators have continued their attempts to break the deadlock in negotiations.
According to Anna Naghdalyan, a spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the government's program clearly states that Nagorno-Karabakh, being the core party to the conflict, should have a voice in resolving the crisis and be involved in the settlement process. "Armenia's actions are aimed at continuing the peace process within the framework of that logic," she told the newspaper.
All key stages of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process have been going on under the OSCE's supervision since 1992. This is because it was impossible to determine the status of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic at the talks.
After Monday's dialogue in Yerevan, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs visited Nagorno-Karabakh to meet with its top officials and monitored the line of engagement between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani troops, David Babayan, a spokesman for the president of the non-recognized republic, told the paper.
"The new visit by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who cannot accept the proposals to change the format of Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations, because it is unacceptable for Baku, has shown that this international mechanism continues to spin its wheels," Alexey Malashenko, Chief Researcher at the Dialogue of Civilizations Institute, told the paper.
According to the expert, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan "understands that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue continues to be unresolved, and there will be no real dialogue between Baku and Yerevan." "That's why he deliberately raises the bar of demands to at least consolidate his position in his home country," he pointed out.