Russia Disturbed the Resolution of the Karabakh Conflict, says Paul Goble

In 2001, during the Key West Summit, Armenia and Azerbaijan were closer to resolving the Karabakh conflict than ever before. The paper 168 Zham interviewed American analyst Paul Goble, who authored the famous “Goble Plan.” Goble, who was a special advisor to the US Secretary of State, had written an article in the beginning of the Karabakh war suggesting the path of “territorial trade” as a resolution to the issue, urging Armenia to concede the city Meghri to Azerbaijan for Nagorno-Karabakh and Lachin.

During the interview, Goble noted that in 2001 many of the points on the table were extremely close to that alternative he had suggested. “The two sides were very close to resolving the conflict because President Robert Kocharyan and President Heydar Aliyev gave a higher priority to their people than their personal authority, and if there was no foreign intervention, it would’ve been possible to reach the final agreement,” said the analyst.

According to him, among the foreign powers, Russia did not let Armenia and Azerbaijan reach the final resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Goble believes that the issue left unresolved has a strategic significance for Moscow because it has never been able to control the Northern Caucasus without controlling the South. On the other hand, Goble believed that the West is in favor of the maintenance of Nagorno-Karabakh’s “stable status-quo.” In regards to the relevance of the Goble Plan, he stated that “at the time, it was a good idea,” however, currently it has no place in the resolution of the conflict.