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YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS:
The former Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov had a noticeable contribution to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Armenpress news agency spoke with Kazimirov about the current round of the Karabakh conflict settlement and its peculiarities.
- Mr Kazimirov, how do you assess the current round of the Karabakh conflict settlement, what peculiarities does it have?
- First I must note that the current round of negotiations is taking place in secret conditions and very seldom the points making the part of the discussed issue are being publicized. Basing on them, it is difficult to say what process the negotiations will have and that is why many political analysts and reporters build the logic in a very approximate way. My remarks are also approximate. For already four years the discussions over Madrid principles are ongoing and after achievement of arrangement over them an agreement will be formed which will demand time: I think at least two-three years. In case of sharpening of the controversies certain pauses are not excluded. All this must be taken into consideration.
Nevertheless, though not everything is clear, I do not lose hope and I keep being optimistic that the big difficulties will be overcome. Of course it will be difficult to reach mutually acceptable solution as the parties fail to reach agreement over the basic principles like for instance connected with the fate of Nagorno Karabakh.
- While being in Armenia the OSCE chairman-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis urged the parties to withdraw the snipers from the line of contact as an expression of kind will. Do you consider one-sided implementation of this call possible in the current conditions?
- I think this statement was just a wish, one-sided activities are impossible. All the activities demand maintenance of mutual principles. In such case it will be possible to ask one of the parties to withdraw troops from certain regions or deploy them more far. It is obvious that each party even if ready for concessions, would demand maintenance of reciprocity.
- What do you think, will Baku's military rhetoric have impact on the process of negotiations?
- I think it must be strongly combated by the co-chairs, but not only by them, as besides them, there are other collective and individual bodies, for instance the OSCE chairman-in-office. These bodies are not seen in the Karabakh conflict settlement process. The chairmen-in-office are changing every year and each of them may have a noticeable contribution to the process. I would like the OSCE to be more engaged in its mission as well as in the implementation of its own decisions.