By way of proposing a meeting in Paris between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the West is attempting to keep the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, since nothing else is possible, and it is impossible to reach an agreement on the Madrid Principles.  

Political analyst Stiopa Safaryan stated the aforesaid Monday adding that he does not have great expectations from this meeting.  

In Safaryan’s words, the whole objective of this talk is to maintain the Minsk Group format and make the presidents of both countries meet on a regular basis.

“Russia has set a goal of restoring [its] role as a prevalent player in the Caucasus, to which the Karabakh conflict serves as an indirect tool; this is the sole conflict which enables to have an influence on Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“And it is not accidental that the American co-chair [of the Minsk Group] is trying to invigorate the OSCE Minsk Group, since this allows not permitting the resolution of the problem to pass into the hands of Russia,” the analyst noted.

In Stiopa Safaryan’s conviction, however, there is but one consolation in this situation. The Azerbaijan-West relations are seriously strained, and this does not permit official Baku to resort to adventurist military operations.