Russia Withdrawing from Karabakh Mediation Reminds Analyst of Kosovo

If Russia voluntarily withdraws from the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan and Armenia will remain alone with their problems — with the very weak mechanisms of the OSCE Minsk Group, said political analyst Stanislav Tarasov in an interview with Vesti.az.

“If Russia withdraws from the process and France or the US begins to take on resolving the conflict, it will be a very bad situation for Azerbaijan. We know very well how a system of international law is built in a European style, where the concepts of ‘territorial integrity’ and ‘people’s right to self-determination’ are clearly outlined. We see that very well in the example of Kosovo,” he said.

Tarasov believes that Azerbaijan should insist Russia retain its mediation mission. At the same time, he noted that in the near future there won’t be time for big diplomacy with respect to Karabakh, since Russia is entering an election cycle and “therefore, the conflict must be frozen.”