Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 15 / Trend E.Mehdiyev /
As the leaders of the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia didn't congratulate Bako Sahakyan, who was declared the "winner" of the "presidential elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh, this is a clear indication of changes in Russia's position on the conflict against the Armenians, Director of Center of Political Innovations and Technologies, a political scientist Mubariz Ahmedoglu said on Wednesday.
"The Armenian experts and pro-Armenian Russian politicians didn't also express their attitude to this issue, but that does not change the essence. Their silence is not capable of neutralizing the changed position of Russia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Ahmedoglu says.
He recalled that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that despite the fact that next year Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold presidential elections, Moscow will continue to seek to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
According to the political scientist, the Russian model of the Karabakh conflict settlement does not provide for the granting of independence to Nagorno-Karabakh or its joining Armenia.
"Otherwise, it would be a delay-action mine, put under the North Caucasus. The only option that can suit the Armenians, taking into account Russia's position, may be a "model of the special status" proposed by Russia for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, but Russia is unlikely for the sake of Azerbaijan to introduce such a model on the agenda. Option, which Russia will offer, will take into account the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan," the political analyst 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 per cent 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 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.