The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan scheduled for Friday in Washington enables to draw at least one important conclusion: Russia wanted to be the sole arbiter in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, but the invasion of Ukraine undermined Moscow's position in the region, and now the leaders of both countries want to see America in its place, writes the BBC Russian Service.

“Both the Azerbaijani president and the Armenian prime minister failed to secure a meeting with [US President] Donald Trump during his first term. The South Caucasus did not become a priority for his second administration either, which had more ambitious objectives: reconciling Russia with Ukraine, and ending the war in Gaza.

And only when Trump’s main peacekeeping plans failed did he turn his attention to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, where hostilities had long since ended, and even the text of a peace treaty had already been developed and agreed upon; all that remained was to sign it.

But beyond the symbolic statement of excluding Russia from post-war plans, the practical benefits of the meeting in Washington are not obvious. Aliyev continues to insist on changing Armenia’s constitution before signing a peace treaty.

Some media outlets have reported that the parties have reached a compromise on opening a road between Azerbaijan and its exclave, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and instead of the ‘Zangezur Corridor,’ the road will remain under Armenian control but will be managed by an American company.

On Friday, Washington will sign only a joint statement on a desire to establish peace. Both Aliyev and Pashinyan have repeatedly spoken of such a desire, and some experts fear that active US interference in the peace process, from which the mediators were recently removed, can only do harm,” added the BBC Russian service.