Vladimir Kazimirov: Baku cannot realistically assess important factors around Karabakh conflict
ArmInfo. The latest trends and events around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict create an impression that Baku cannot realistically assess the important factors around the conflict, Vladimir Kazimirov, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in 1992-96, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Chairman of the Council of Veterans at the Russian Foreign Ministry, says in an interview with ArmInfo.
"In particular, the matter certainly concerns the price of a new possible conflict with the use of military force first of all for the people and naturally for the entire region, as well as the negative consequences of a new possible war amid the rather effective lessons of the Karabakh war of 1991-1994 and flaws of the previous leadership of Azerbaijan. It was the reluctance to stop the military actions as requires by the UN Security Council's resolutions and the revision of its own capacities that made Baku lose control over the 7 districts surrounding Karabakh," he says.
The diplomat thinks that amid the two Armenian sides' willingness to discuss and conduct specific work over the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group, Baku is trying to disrupt the Co- Chairs' initiatives in every possible way or to delay the consideration of the proposals. In addition, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev keeps threatening to resume the military actions and his latest statements prove that.
Kazimirov says that very often Azeri diplomacy shows an unserious attitude to the Karabakh conflict settlement documents signed by Azerbaijan along with the other parties. He points out the example of Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev's remarks about an appendix to the treaty of 1994-95.
"There was no integrated agreement. There are two agreements: "On ceasefire" dated 12 May 1994 and "On consolidation of the ceasefire" dated 4 Feb 1995, which were signed by all the parties to the conflict. There was no appendix to either the first or the second agreement. Amid such blatant distortion of the situation by the Baku colleagues, it is no wonder that they blame Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian for allegedly presenting the treaty of 1994-95 in a distorted way," Kazimirov says.