Azerbaijan, Baku, July 1 / Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva /
Russia will not leave the negotiations to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as it is interested in security in the South Caucasus, Trend Expert Council member Alexey Vlasov beleives.
The presidents' Kazan meeting should not be considered in terms of the final phase, but as a next phase in the talks, Vlasov said. He is the deputy dean of the History Department at Moscow State University and the chief editor of the Vestnik Kavkaza.
Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan discussed the basic principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement on Friday in Kazan on June 24.
"I think, Azerbaijan and Armenia can not agree on the sequence of the fulfillment of the Madrid principles, however, I think that the negotiation process will yield concrete results by 2012," Vlasov said.
He underscored it is very important that Baku supports the view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a territorial, not ethnic problem.
According to Vlasov, it creates a ground for constructive dialogue of not only politicians but also ordinary people.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are developing positively in many fields, such as military, commercial and humanitarian spheres, Vlasov said.
"The foundation of these relations is the interaction between the two leaders. Ilham Aliyev is a man whose position largely coincides with Dmitry Medvedev's," he said.