Armenia’s possible recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh is the proof that Yerevan likewise has levers to change the status quo with respect to the Karabakh conflict, said analyst Jeffrey Mankoff of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, according to Voice of America Armenian service.

Cory Welt, Associate Research Professor of International Affairs; Associate Director, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC, for his part, recalled that the Armenian authorities had long promised to recognize Karabakh’s independence, in case of escalation of the conflict.

According to the analysts, however, it is altogether another matter as to with which borders Armenia is going to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh.

They noted that Armenia’s recognition of Karabakh’s independence will fundamentally change the course of the peace talks, and added that the four-day war in early April has showed that the respective status quo is already collapsing.

As per the analysts, the international community must play its role of mediator in creating barriers that will stop Azerbaijan, should it decide to repeat the experience of the war in April.

But according to Mankoff, the mediators’ respective capacity is limited. 

And in Welt’s view, it will be indispensable to establish a new status quo. Otherwise, the alternative is war.