ArmInfo. No prompt decisions on the problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan, especially on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, should be expected in the foreseeable future, Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, said in an interview with ArmInfo.
"I think it is a protracted settlement process that Moscow's reckoning and policy toward the Brussels- supervised stage of the conflict settlement is based on. It is obvious for Moscow that EU's major task is full control of the process, and Brussels is giving promises to Yerevan and Baku," he said.
According to the statement by President of the European Council Charles Michel following his meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, the leaders agreed on the need to proceed with unblocking the transport links, on the work of Border Commissions and on meeting again in the same format by July/August.
As regards Moscow's obvious passiveness "on the Karabakh-related geopolitical track," Mr Lukyanov explains it by an objective geopolitical situation. However, it is too early to ignore Russia's role as mediator. With no light at the end of the tunnel, Moscow has every chance to retake its role at any moment.
"In any case, it is Brussels, not Moscow, that is the venue for the substantial negotiations now, which does not at all improve the chances of resolving the major Armenian-Azerbaijani problem, Nagorno- Karabakh's status. Brussels will certainly continue with statements in support of Yerevan and Baku, but it is our [Russian] peacekeepers that are ensuring security in Karabakh. And it is the status of the principal mediator in the region that is being determined now, and the prospects are dependent on the geopolitical signals far beyond the South Caucasus borders," Mr Lukyanov said.