Results of Sochi meeting give hope for consolidation of peace, stability in South Caucasus – experts

By Trend

The Sochi meeting was a technical meeting, at which it was necessary to discuss pressing issues that will allow the region to develop, political analyst and Deputy Director of the Russian Institute of Socio-Political Research Darya Grevtsova told Trend.

On November 26, Russia’s Sochi hosted a meeting of the heads of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia, at which a number of issues were discussed, including the opening of communications, delimitation, and demarcation of borders. The results of the trilateral meeting are assessed positively. Azerbaijan achieved its goals, in particular, a decision was made to launch projects to open roads and railways.

According to Grevtsova, at this meeting, they discussed specific working issues in connection with the demarcation and delimitation of borders, the opening of transport corridors.

"Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia and their peoples is a matter of the future. Only when all transport corridors are open, the former IDPs will return to their native lands, the development of new projects, business projects, the interaction between Azerbaijanis and Armenians will begin, only then it will be possible to sign a peace agreement," she said.

Grevtsova also said that both sides should take steps to open transport communications, Armenia should not hinder the development of Karabakh.

"We know that illegal armed groups arrange provocations are quite dangerous, and Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, first, must deal with this and solve the problem. Pashinyan also needs to not only verbally emphasize the desire to demarcate and delimit borders, but also really be ready to do it. That is, not only to declare in words but also to document on paper what needs to be done to delimit and demarcate borders. Regarding the opening of a transport corridor, transport communications, dialogue should also be conducted here. The more such dialogues there are, the more beneficial it will be for the development of the region as a whole," she said.

Grevtsova stressed that the Sochi meeting is really important, which was also noted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The more often the parties meet, the more effective the work on the development of Karabakh will be. Putin also noted that he was pleased with the fact that a meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia will be held in Brussels. Such contacts make it possible to establish mutual understanding between the leaders and discuss specific issues one-on-one," Grevtsova said.

The Russian expert also believes that Armenia will delay the process of signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, as Pashinyan will face pressure from the opposition.

"The main question facing the leaders is the normalization of relations, adherence to the agreements that were signed on November 10, 2020, and January 11, 2021, their implementation so that there are no incidents at the border. It is also the unblocking of transport communications, and, of course, the issue of the Zangazur corridor is acute here. Both leaders stressed their readiness to begin work on the demarcation and delimitation of borders," Grevtsova added.

Also, according to the editor of Pakistan in the World magazine Tazeen Akhtar, the results of the trilateral meeting in Sochi give hope for the consolidation of peace and stability in the South Caucasus

However, in his words, unfortunately, there is no trust in Armenia due to its behavior at the previous stages.

"Armenia, again and again, violated its obligations and the ceasefire agreement signed by the parties in the presence of the President of Russia," Akhtar said.

Akhtar added that such facts are enough to conclude that Armenia has never ceased fire with Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, the Pakistani expert notes that dialogue, confidence-building measures at any level are undoubtedly positive factors.

"The very fact that the Sochi meeting was held suggests that Yerevan has finally come to terms with the new reality. This meeting can be regarded as recognition by Armenia of the collapse of its provocations over the past period, a losing country in a desperate situation," he said.