Friday, July 1 2022 19:55

ArmInfo. The problem of Nagorno-Karabakh is not an exception in the general diplomatic gap between the Russian Federation and the West. A similar opinion was  expressed to ArmInfo by Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director at the  International Valdai Discussion Club,  Editor-in-Chief of the  Russia  in Global Affairs journal.

"Obviously, one cannot count on the fact that the usual diplomatic  contacts between Russia and the West, interaction on other topics and  issues will continue as before. I think that this was very clearly  stated by representative of our Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova,  emphasizing that in such an environment, work in any format Russia  and the West is impossible. In my opinion, in this light, the  possibilities for restoring the format of the trilateral  co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group are practically exhausted,"  he said.

According to Lukyanov, the OSCE Minsk Group lost its real influence  as an instrument for resolving the conflict even after the 44-day war  in Artsakh. As a result, in fact, Russia and Turkey take upon  themselves the moderation of the conflict as countries that have  mechanisms for direct influence on the development of processes on  the ground.

He noted, that after the signing of the trilateral ceasefire  statement on November 9, 2020, the OSCE Minsk Group did not  participate in any serious processes. And Ukraine and the subsequent  break in all formats of interaction between Russia and the West only  drew a line in this process. In this light, Lukyanov determines the  latest US statements about the need to restore the Minsk format by  the desire to bring down the current format of mediation of the  Russian Federation with a subsequent review of the deployment of the  Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh.

"However, given the key role and position of the Russian Federation  and Azerbaijan in this matter, the possibility of resuscitation,  especially the effective work of the OSCE Minsk Group as of today is  negligible. Even taking into account the presence of the Russian  military contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, the current peculiarities of  Moscow's relations with Ankara, Baku and Yerevan hardly allow Russia  to maintain a favorable balance in the South Caucasus. This is all  that our capabilities allow us today," the Russian analyst summed up.