Forcing peace on Georgia, which Russia attempted in 2008 in South Ossetia, has become a "serious lesson" for Armenia and Azerbaijan as the countries remain conflicted over Nagorno-Karabakh, RIA Novosti quotes the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying.
"When [the five-day war] took place, the two leaders - President (of Azerbaijan) Ilham Aliyev, and President (of Armenia) Serge Sargsyan - were in Sochi. They said to me: 'It is bad, of course that all this happened. It is hard for the Caucasus'."
"My response was: Too bad, but you know this is a lesson for us to hold endless negotiations regarding the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh. Whether there will be a referendum some time and how to prepare peace agreements rather than hold a five-day war. This was a very serious lesson for them," Medvedev said in an interview with a Russian TV channel "Today", Georgian "First Information Caucasian" TV channel, and "Echo of Moscow" radio station.
He said the Russian and Georgian leaders could also meet in Sochi, Kazan, or "somewhere else, and think about how to seek compromises in the relationship between parts of a formerly single state, Georgia, and breakaway regions. But it would be a political process", Medvedev said.
According to Medvedev, it is unclear what the perspectives of these negotiations would be. "Maybe they never would have agreed, maybe something would come through, or maybe there could be some sort of a confederation".
"And he [the Georgian president] took it and broke off his country. So I think that people will remember this. And that is the most important thing", Medvedev said.
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 seven 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.
As a result of armed conflict in Georgia in August 2008, the autonomous regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - unilaterally declared their independence and secession from Georgia. The separatist regions were supported by Russia, which subsequently, despite the West's protests, established diplomatic relations with them.