Karen Ghazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia
The agreement on issues of confidence-building measures and mitigation of the tension at the line of contact was the important tangible outcome of the presidential meeting in Paris, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told reporters today. He said more attention was paid to the issues this time.
Sergey Minasyan says the progress in the negotiations is apparent. “On one hand, there have been three meetings within three months initiated by the three co-chairing countries. On the other hand, at the latest meeting the Presidents spoke in more detail about the mechanisms to mitigate tension at the line of contact,” he said.
“The outcome of the three meetings is that we manage to maintain some permanent format of negotiations on the presidential level. It’s clear to all that the best result for now and the coming months will be the creation of confidence-building measures at the line of contact,” Minasyan added.
According to the analyst, the question now is not about a final solution or a common understanding on the Madrid Principles.
Sergey Minasyan says the mitigation of tension and decrease of the number of incidents will be the best achievement for now. At worst, he said, the high-level talks will continue, which is also positive.
According to him, the statements of the Azerbaijani side on the unacceptability of the status quo pursue propaganda purposes. “Baku thinks that if the Co-Chairs also deem the status quo unacceptable, it will result in the change of the line of contact,” the analyst said, adding, however, that “it’s impossible.”
Minasyan concluded that the issue of territories cannot be on the agenda, until a full agreement is reached, and added that the status quo cannot change unilaterally.
