There was not and could not be any breakthrough during the Ramouillet talks, since the parties hold diametrically opposite positions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Director of the Caucasus Media Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, the outcome of the negotiations was predetermined. "Actually the talks ended without being started. The parties did not have space for compromise. Moreover I think neither of the parties is ready for real negotiations. All what is going on is an imitation," he said. In Iskandaryan's opinion, an attempt to reanimate the format the OSCE Minsk Group, which has been inactive since 2001, was taken in Rambouillet. As for the format, it's better than nothing. "This a formed structure. It's a secondary question whether it works well or badly. But it should function now and the OSCE MG really tries to do something," the political scientist said.

As for the proposal to determine the status of Karabakh via referendum, he noted that being merely an instrument the referendum cannot be a mechanism of settlement. "Referendum can fix the fact, the agreement that doesn't exist yet. Neither of the Presidents has the carte blanche for the settlement of the Karabakh problem," Iskandaryan said.