Azerbaijan may put forward extra demands to Armenia – Bogdan Bezpalko

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist Bogdan Bezpalko commented on the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the expert, the Armenian authorities are under pressure from international forces that are not interested in concluding a peace treaty.

“It is not entirely clear why such an important document for the entire population of Armenia and Azerbaijan as the peace treaty is kept in secret. It is changing, or maybe it actually contains some points unacceptable to one of the parties. It would be nice to learn about all this in great detail. But I can assume that the first option is that it really contains the points that are not acceptable to Armenia. The second option is that the Armenian authorities are under pressure by certain international forces that are not interested in concluding a peace treaty at all. It is important for them to preserve the possibility of fomenting conflict in the Caucasus.

If there is no peace treaty, one can always organize some kind of shootout, drone strike, assassination attempt, or something else, after which the conflict can flare up again easily and quickly. Especially if a peace treaty has not been signed. Because if the agreement is signed, all incidents will be resolved within the framework of intergovernmental, interstate relations; they will be investigated and so on. There will be a legal framework. And if there is no such legal framework, you can always try to rekindle this bonfire,” Bezpalko said.

According to the political scientist, it is possible that Azerbaijan may put forward extra demands in relation to Armenia.

“It seems to me that Azerbaijan is interested in a peace treaty, firstly, because it has actually won a military victory, and secondly, it does not want to continue the war, because the Azerbaijani leadership is aware of the risks of fomenting a conflict in the Caucasus with the participation of Iran, Russia, and other states, within which Azerbaijan will lose much more than it acquired. In addition, there are indeed certain international forces that are interested in this conflict. But I do not rule out the possibility that Azerbaijan, in the heat of the victory march, may put forward some extra demands in relation to Armenia. It will be possible to say something definite when we see specifically the text of the peace treaty,” Bezpalko concluded.