Medvedev Gives Ultimatum to Sargsyan, Aliyev: Kommersant Source

At a meeting in Kazan on Friday, presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, contrary to expectations, failed to agree on a “road map” to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, pledging to continue negotiations. However, future talks may take place without the participation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

According to information received by the Russian-language publication Kommersant, the Russian president is so disappointed at the outcome of the Kazan summit that he was ready to terminate his mediation mission. He is prepared to organize the next Aliyev-Sargsyan meeting only if the two presidents finally sign a document on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reports Kommersant.

Although Baku and Yerevan say they are ready to continue negotiations, after the failure of the Kazan summit, the fate of their dialogue remains in question. According to the Kommersant source, unexpected contradictions arose between the diplomats involved in the negotiation process which the mediators had long considered to be resolved.

“The differences are technical as well as substantive, such as the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the source explained. “But the problem is not even the differences as much as the fact that the parties have changed their position several times — but you can’t do that.”

“The failure of the Kazan meeting may have direct implications for the peace initiative of Dmitry Medvedev, who since the fall of 2009 has been actively engaged in the reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan and has already organized 9 trilateral meetings in Russia.

“If in the near future, Armenia and Azerbaijan do not show willingness to resolve the accumulated problems, we will consider the mediation mission complete,” said the source.

Moreover, according to him, Medvedev has actually put forward an ultimatum to the conflicting parties: the next trilateral meeting will take place only when the parties express willingness to sign a document on resolving the Nagorno-Karabkakh conflict, the source said.