U.S. and Russia are guarantors of Karabakh conflict settlement, Russian expert says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Senior fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Andrey Areshev said that there were many similar statements on the Karabakh conflict settlement like the one adopted by the United States, French and Russian leaders at the G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville.

After any meeting at the highest level, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries adopt statements, while the G8 summit in Deauville was not exclusion, Areshev told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, the statements confirm that the U.S. and Russia are guarantors of the Karabakh conflict peace settlement.

“But it is important that these good intentions do not remain on paper. A creative adaptation of the Madrid principles is needed now, since they are not applicable for the Karabakh conflict settlement in a “raw condition.” I state it once again that the statements should not reflect an ostentatious aspiration to solve the problem by a certain date, in this case until presidential elections in all the three countries – the U.S., Russia and France,” concluded Areshev.

The United States, French and Russian leaders called on Armenia and Azerbaijan on May 26 to move toward a peaceful resolution of the long-standing conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We...are convinced that it is time for the sides in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to take a decisive step toward a peaceful resolution (of the conflict)," said a joint statement by Presidents Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville.

"We firmly call on the leaders of the sides to prepare their people for peace, not war," the statement said.

"We call on the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to demonstrate political will and finalize...the basic principles (of a peace agreement) during the forthcoming summit in June."

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who has ramped up his country's military power with recent arms deals, has said Azerbaijan is willing to go to war with Armenia to reclaim Nagorno-Karabakh.