YEREVAN. – A problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) issue is where an impression can be made that Russia is personally concerned with the settlement of the matter. There is no other meaning in Russian FM Sergei Lavrov’s last statement on the NK problem. 

Armenian Center for National and International Studies Director of Research, analyst Manvel Sargsyan told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, Lavrov’s words should be considered in a specific context. 

“First, it was stated after [his] meeting with the Azerbaijani FM. Second, Russia-Azerbaijan relations have deteriorated to some extent, and Russia is attempting to somehow win Azerbaijan over,” the political scientist said.   

As per Sargsyan, by stating that the status quo in Karabakh is unacceptable for the parties to the conflict, Russia de facto accepted Azerbaijan’s respective stance.  

“Lavrov’s statement proves that, in reality, Russia is trying to establish good relations with Azerbaijan and to surmount—even at the expense of Armenia, to some extent—the problems that have emerged,” Manvel Sargsyan stressed.

But he added that there is no need to draw specific conclusions from the Russian FM’s statement on the Karabakh issue.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am