There was a much broader scope of issues discussed during the talks in Moscow, and this can be deduced from the indirect statements by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.
This is what political scientist Andrey Areshev told Armenian News-NEWS.am. “Among those issues is the issue of prisoners of war and their transfer which the Armenian side considers a priority in this stage. It is also safe to assume that the continuation of the talks within the scope of the OSCE Minsk Group was also touched upon in some way,” he explained.
According to him, the only issue that was agreed on was the de-blockage of communications, which is important for Azerbaijan, and Aliyev has always declared its intention to ensure the shortest transport communication with Nakhchivan and Turkey through Meghri. “In exchange for this, railway communication between Armenia and Russia through the territory of Azerbaijan was promised. It is still hard to say how this will be established.
The important thing is that the meeting was a face-to-face meeting and it was stated that the meeting was hosted by Putin. Stability in the South Caucasus and the prevention of repetition of military escalation in the region are important for Russia. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has a long history, but new realities are being formed in the region that need to be taken into consideration. Moscow will do everything it can for the establishment of certain economic ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan so that it will be possible to advance the political agenda as well,” the political scientist emphasized, adding that the changes need to be interpreted, including in the context of benefits and damages, that is, in case of establishing railway communication through not only Meghri, but also from Armenia to Iran through Nakhchivan.
“Taking into consideration the fact that in many sectors the railway road is simply dismantled, but it is still difficult to say when this can turn into a reality. In any case, it’s not hard, but the political issues are more serious issues, taking into consideration Baku’s position. Apparently, Armenian-Turkish talks are also being held over the normalization of relations and the opening of the border. The establishment of an overriding position in the region will favor Turkey. We see that Turkey is actively increasing its military presence in Azerbaijan, and I believe this will continue. Alongside this, Turkey and Azerbaijan will aspire to increase their economic influence on Armenia,” he summed up.
After the meeting of President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Moscow on January 11, the leaders signed a statement on the creation of a trilateral task force to be jointly chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of the countries that will work on de-blockage of all economic and transport relations in the region. However, the issue of prisoners of war, which is considered a more priority issue for the Armenian authorities, remained unsolved.
