Sargsyan-Aliyev talks important effort against April tensions, says Armenian expert

Against the backdrop of the increasing tensions after the April 2016 fighting, the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents’ meeting in Geneva was a very important effort in terms of mitigating the situation, according to Narek Minasyan, an expert from the Yerevan-based analytical center Insight.

Speaking to Tert.am, he highlighted particularly the call for implementing the Vienna and St Petersburg arrangements and the proposals for reaching a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.

“These were the key moments of the meeting reflected in the final statement, though the wording focused more on reducing tension,” he said.

Noting that the peacemaking efforts agreed still remain on paper, Minasyan said he thinks that the emphasis is now on confidence-building and mechanisms allowing for reducing tension.

“In his speech, the president expressed a kind of skepticism over the agreements with [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev on reducing tension. At the same time, he emphasized that no political arrangement had been reached,” he said, considering the attitude absolutely logical from the point of view of Armenia.

Asked what would be the reasonable steps for country in case Azerbaijan backs away from the commitments again, Minasyan said he is positively disposed to future developments. “But it is important to mention at the same time that the discussions are led by the OSCE Minsk Group chairmanship, which fixes any agreements and breaches. Admittedly, it will strengthen Armenia’s position on different issues,” he added.

Asked to comment on the Baku authorities’ Eurasian integrations ambitions in an effort to achieve a pro-Azerbaijani position on Nagorno-Karabakh by Russia, the expert said he does not seriously treat such a scenario. “We have been hearing those rumors for quite a long time, but there are very low chances that they could be realistic in essence, with Azerbaijani not visibly showing any desire to join the EEU. Also, Armenia’s possible reaction and position is not unequivocal. Therefore Azerbaijan’s desire alone cannot be thought as a sufficient effort for applying the scheme,” he said.