President Ilham Aliyev actively promoting new era in Caucasus - era of peace and cooperation - Russian expert's commentary

By Trend

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is actively promoting a new era in the Caucasus - an era of peace and cooperation, Trend reports.

Recently, the Armenian government accepted the five fundamental principles put forward by Azerbaijan. Moreover, within the proposal of Azerbaijan, Armenia agreed to establish a joint working group with it to start the process of border delimitation.

This was an important reflection of recent events, which also showed that today, one and a half years after the 2020 second Karabakh war, the leadership of Armenia understands the need for peace.

If a peace treaty is signed and the above fundamental principles are practically realized, then peace in the Caucasus will become long-term and sustainable.

A researcher at the Center for the Study of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Stas Pritchin commenting on the issues said that the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia is an important stage.

According to Pritchin, at the same time, it’s necessary to resolve the issues of the border and communications which will connect the two countries.

"This is due to the fact that in political terms, the agreement forms common approaches to the settlement principles, and since for 30 years there have been no agreements between the countries which usually regulate economic relations, it’s clear that this vacuum needs to be filled in order to economically push relations towards development," he noted.

The expert also noted that along with opening borders and creating infrastructure, it’s also necessary to create a legal framework between the two countries.

"A lot of work should be done for this. Nevertheless, more pragmatic approaches to building relations with Azerbaijan are already visible from the Armenian side. This opens up huge opportunities for entering post-conflict development," Pritchin further said.

Speaking about the significance of the Declaration on Allied Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, the expert noted that in general it actually reflects both the nature and spirit of relations between the two countries.

"At the legal-regulatory level, the declaration essentially consolidates the spirit of the current relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, these common interests in cooperation and the nature of our current relations which formed over 30 years of Azerbaijan's independence," he said.

According to Pritchin, the aspects specified in the declaration show that it’s comprehensive in terms of subject matter and also prescribes security issues.

"Speaking at ADA University on April 29 [during international conference on "South Caucasus Development & Cooperation"], President Ilham Aliyev mentioning the Declaration on Allied Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in the context of the Shusha Declaration [between Azerbaijan and Turkey], didn’t equalize them, but noted that these two documents are key for Azerbaijan, and that both Turkey and Russia are key foreign political and economic partners of Azerbaijan," concluded the expert.