“Russia has leverage in the Karabakh conflict resolution, former PACE Political Affairs Commission Chairman Goran Lindbland told Trend News.

The ex-Swedish MP doubts that the OSCE summit in Astana and the joint statement adopted by the presidents of the countries party to the conflict - Armenia and Azerbaijan - as well as the heads of the delegations of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, will accelerate the process of conflict settlement.

“It hardly seems that way and I would say that there is a very little contribution from this declaration. The process has been stalled for a very long time. What really needs to be done is that two countries must launch direct talks and Russia also must be involved. Without serious Russian involvement, it is going to be problematic to find a solution,” the MP stressed.