The joint statement by the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents in Sochi, Russia, is not of great importance. “The things did not budge an inch for the Presidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. The possibility of war remains on the agenda,” Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian military expert, told Azatutyun (Liberty) radio.

The document only says that the conflicting parties will seek a peaceful settlement of all disputable issues. The only clear point in the document is the one on the parties’ readiness “to continue trilateral meetings.”

On the other hand, the expert said, new hostilities are “almost inevitable” unless concrete steps are taken. Felgenhauer is sure that tension on the line of contact will not ease.

“The situation is now slipping into a military conflict,” he said.  

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that, after considering the implementation of the Astrakhan statement of October 27, 2010, at their March 5 meeting in Sochi, the Presidents also agreed on additional steps.

The first step is completing the POW exchange process as soon as possible. However, no Azeri POWs are in the Armenian territory now, whereas Azerbaijan is still keeping Armenian POWs.

The second point envisages settling all the disputable issues in a peaceful way and investigating possible incidents on the line of contact with the parties` participation, under the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs` auspices and with the assistance of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.