October 23, 2008 - 17:33 AMT
Stepan Grigoryan: Russia can cede a part of its territory to Azerbaijan, without using NKR as token coin
The events that followed Kosovo's proclamation of independence and deployment of EU peacekeepers in Georgia will affect the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process, an Armenian expert said.

"The latest hearing in the NKR parliament revealed the whole range of opinions on the conflict. I don't think that such an event would be possible in the Armenian or Azeri parliament, due to the lack of pluralism of opinions," Stepan Grigoryan, head of analytical center of globalization studies, said during a round-table discussion today.

The OSCE MNG format is jeopardized due to global processes, relating to the U.S. and Russia, according to him.

"Russia attempts to speed up the Karabakh process artificially, what is to some extent conditioned by the impending presidential election I the United States. As to unwillingness to spoil relations with Azerbaijan, Russia could cede some 5 thousand km2 to this country, without using NKR as a token coin," Grigoryan said.