Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 26
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Washington may soon diminish its role in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to Russia.
In his letter to Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Bob Corker, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested abolishing the posts of around 30 special ambassadors of the US Department of State, including those who deal with the Syrian crisis and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the OSCE Minsk Group as part of the reorganization of the Department of State.
In particular, the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, part of the Department of State, will retain the staff and functions of the senior representative in the OSCE Minsk Group. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs will continue to perform these functions, the letter said.
On one hand, this proposal was expected. Even during the election campaign it was clear that US President Donald Trump’s administration will focus on the country’s internal affairs and will pay less attention to the interference in the internal affairs of other countries as opposed to the previous administration.
On the other hand, in fact, Washington has recently passed the initiative to settle the conflict to Moscow. At the same time, Washington stressed that the US and Russia have rather the same positions and approaches to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Moscow is well acquainted with the situation in the region. Moreover, the Kremlin has leverage over the Armenian authorities, which is a necessary element in advancing the peace process. For more than 20 years the international community has unsuccessfully urged Yerevan to withdraw troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
In recent years, Moscow has been actively involved as a mediator in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russia, having partner relations with other countries in the region, can also influence the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the point of view of restoring relations with Ankara.
Taking into account the abovementioned, Russia’s participation in the peace settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can become successful and can lead to real progress, that is, less active participation of Washington can not negatively affect the negotiation process.
It will be rather a negative trend for the US itself, which may lose some influence in such a strategically important region as the South Caucasus.