Experts stress Russia's active role in up talks on Karabakh issue

Negotiations on settlement of the Karabakh conflict are expected in the near future with the active mediation of Russia, which will get support from the OSCE Minsk Group, said the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They noted that the search for compromise will be based on the earlier voiced out principles.

The aggravation of the conflict was inevitable, because it was not frozen, but in an unsettled state, Sergey Markov, a Russian political analyst and a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, said on April 18 at a press conference in Baku.

According to his version, a peculiarity is the absence of peacemakers between the armed forces of the parties.

However, Mr Markov continued, the power balance "is rapidly changing in favour of Azerbaijan," which takes a firmer position, based on the four resolutions of the UN Security Council and the "Madrid principles".

He has added that the next stage "should deal with the definition of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and return of refugees."

Ali Gasanov, the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan on socio-political affairs, has confirmed that preparations are underway of talks on the Karabakh settlement. According to his story, the ceasefire initiative came from President of Russia.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.