Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia welcomed Moscow meeting planning to abstain from signing any summit closing document. The Director of National and International Studies Richard Giragosian said that the Moscow meeting revealed US, Russia and France pressure in Karabakh issue settlement.

The expert said the pressure is mostly directed towards Armenian-Turkish relations, rather than Nagorno-Karabakh issue. According to Giragosian, Turkey is mostly interested in Madrid principles – as the country seeks an opportunity to indicate a progress in Armenian-Turkish relations. “Turkey seeks pretexts to open Armenian-Turkish border before October 2009. It seems, the international community also takes steps in this direction,” he said.

As for the external pressure in Karabakh issue, Giragosian said: “No external pressure succeeds in forcing the sides to sign the document and secure Karabakh. Thus, the pressure even coming from Armenia cannot settle the Karabakh problem. The only solution is Stepanakert’s equal participation in the talks. Not a single conflict has been settled without participation of key side in the negotiations. Armenia should not represent democratically elected authorities of NKR, as concerns of the two states sometimes differ.”