Activation of peace process is caused by Western pressure – Nikolai Starikov

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist Nikolai Starikov commented on the prospects of signing a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the expert, the most important risk is whether the agreements will be implemented or not.

“The activation of the peace process is caused by the pressure of the West, which wants to show some results of its activity. At the same time, the Armenian side made statements about new talks on a visa-free regime (with the EU), i.e., the Ukraine’s scheme is repeated to a certain extent. As for the document, it is very likely that it will be signed because the previous documents were signed as well. It is not about the documents, because the Minsk agreements were signed, but nobody from the Western side fulfilled them. The most important risk always comes with the fulfillment of signed documents. I am afraid that we will face the same thing here. Each country has its own interests in this multilateral process. There are two sides to the conflict, each with its own goals. And there is an external factor forcing peace; it tries to take into account its own interests to a greater extent than the interests of the negotiating parties,” Starikov said.