Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.30
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Against the backdrop of the developments in Ukraine, it is very difficult to expect progress in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2015, said Stanislav Pritchin, research fellow of the Center for Central Asian, Caucasian and Volga-Urals Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow).
"Under the conditions of such serious confrontation, as well as given the difficult relations of Russia with the US and the western countries in general, it is very difficult to predict and expect any progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Pritchin told Trend.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Pritchin said that today, the Minsk Group countries are not interested in dealing with the issue which is not currently paramount for them.
"Naturally, Ukraine is currently more important for them," he said. "At present, the paramount issue is how the situation in Ukraine is developing and how Russia's relations with EU and US are developing."
Edited by CN
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