Expert: Parties to Karabakh conflict should be brought to negotiating table

he aggravation of the situation on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops is a direct consequence of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after last year’s April clashes.

Grigory Trofimchuk, a Russian political scientist and chairman of the Expert Council of Research Support Foundation «Workshop of Eurasian Ideas», made the remark while talking to Report on March 7.

“Today's escalation of the conflict in Karabakh is a direct consequence of the fact that there was no progress towards solving the problem after the April battles of 2016,” the expert said.

“Baku was hoping that the negotiations, as well as the summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg, would give any result. And now, after the February events, there is such an impression that the events in Karabakh do not interest anyone, including the organizers of the above-mentioned summits," said Trofimchuk.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has erupted in April 2016 bringing Armenia and Azerbaijan face to face once again after years of “silence”.

After the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg, which took place after the April clashes, the negotiation process came to the dead end due to the denial of Yerevan to continue serious talks.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding districts.

The expert believes that the reason of the current situation is the absence of Russia’s "new breakthrough ideas," which can rule out a military option for solving the issue.

Trofimchuk is sure that the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh is critical, as full-fledged chances of resolving the conflict were not used.

“The first chance appeared immediately after the 1994-ceasefire, which lasted more than 20 years and led to nothing,” the expert said.“The second one was immediately after last year's April war, and the third one, even shorter chance, appeared during the presidential shift at the White House.”

Trofimchuk reminded that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has previously expressed dissatisfaction with the negotiation process over the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

“Baku's position is clear more than ever. Therefore, it is necessary to find specific solutions to bring the parties to the negotiating table, at least formally,” Trofimchuk concluded.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan 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 NagornoKarabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.