The RF Minister of Foreign Affairs didn't say anything new in Baku
The decision that parties arrived at were as follows; Baku decided not to send any diplomatic notes, Russia promised to assist in the issue of the energy supply.
The RF Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov didn't say anything new in Baku, and only what had already been mentioned in Yerevan was repeated. "Russia's fundamental viewpoint regarding the Karabakh issue remains unchangeable, the main responsibility for the final choice of the resolution method depends on Azerbaijan and Armenia, as for Moscow, in case of agreement achieved by mutual concession, it is willing to become the guarantor of the regulation," this has been mentioned more than once and perhaps will still be mentioned.
And the matter is not in Lavrov's personality, but in the principles of diplomacy. The truth is though, that the visit to Baku was a little "overshadowed" with three notes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan concerning the Russian TV Companies and Russian encyclopedia, yet everything went off smoothly.
For Azerbaijan, just like for Armenia, Russia remains one of the key mediators in the Karabakh issue. "In any kind of conflict often the history is being crunched over and over, something what unfortunately happens to the results of World War II. It is necessary to have any conflict is resolved in a peaceful way," stated the RF Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Baku. According to his words, the outcomes achieved by the OSCE Minsk group should be supported. "Russia is stands up for the problem resolution within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group. Moscow wants the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict be fair and acceptable for all the parties," said Lavrov during the concluding press-conference in Baku.
But of course the Nagorno-Karabakh problem wasn't the only issue Sergey Lavrov spoke about in Baku. At first the issue of energy cooperation was being discussed during the meeting. A week before the visit of the RF Minister of Foreign Affairs to Baku the President of Azerbaijan had participated at Krakow Energy Summit. Together with the President of Ukraine, Georgia and Poland Ilham Aliyev discussed the options of realizing the ideas of the ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma about continuing the Odessa-Brody pipe line up to Gdansk. However Azerbaijan's role in this very project is rather limited. The new oil-pipe line is needed for transporting first of all Kazakh oil. So Azerbaijan is first of all a transit country in this project, as the country has almost run out of own oil. The truth is, that the Krakow Summit ended with nothing, as the main potential supplier of the alternative "black gold" for Ukraine and possibly the Baltic countries wasn't present at the meeting. That time Nursultan Nazarbayev preferred meeting Vladimir Putin.
Judging from the commentaries of the Azeri press, Lavrov's visit to Baku was normal. The decision that parties arrived at were as follows; Baku decided not to send any diplomatic notes, Russia promised to assist in the issue of the energy supply. According to the political scientist Rasim Musabekov, both Russia and Azerbaijan are interested in the development of the political and financial relations. "But unfortunately in politic objective moments are not as common as subjective ones."
However regarding Azerbaijan and Russia there is the question of allotment of the Caspian, the relationship between Iran and the USA. Natural besides Armenia the RF wants to take control of Azerbaijan which has lately started to threaten the International Community with resolution of the Karabakh problem by use of force. Obviously Ilham Aliyev's announcements are of propagandistic nature; however for Moscow it is better to keep all the events of the region under control. This may be the reason why Russia is insisting on a veto in UNO regarding the Kosovo issue, for it is well aware that the domino effect in the Caucasus will work very fast. After all besides Karabakh and Abkhazia there is also the issue of Chechnya, which strives for independence by Kosovo example. In this matter Baku and Moscow are of the same opinion unfortunately.
However, Rasim Mussabekov considers that in spite of the fact that over the last several years some difficulties and misunderstandings occurred between the two countries, the parties tried to come to a mutual understanding. "In any case the relationship didn't change for the worse," said the political scientist.
For Azerbaijan, just like for Armenia, Russia remains one of the key mediators in the Karabakh issue. "In any kind of conflict often the history is being crunched over and over, something what unfortunately happens to the results of World War II. It is necessary to have any conflict is resolved in a peaceful way," stated the RF Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Baku. According to his words, the outcomes achieved by the OSCE Minsk group should be supported. "Russia is stands up for the problem resolution within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group. Moscow wants the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict be fair and acceptable for all the parties," said Lavrov during the concluding press-conference in Baku.
But of course the Nagorno-Karabakh problem wasn't the only issue Sergey Lavrov spoke about in Baku. At first the issue of energy cooperation was being discussed during the meeting. A week before the visit of the RF Minister of Foreign Affairs to Baku the President of Azerbaijan had participated at Krakow Energy Summit. Together with the President of Ukraine, Georgia and Poland Ilham Aliyev discussed the options of realizing the ideas of the ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma about continuing the Odessa-Brody pipe line up to Gdansk. However Azerbaijan's role in this very project is rather limited. The new oil-pipe line is needed for transporting first of all Kazakh oil. So Azerbaijan is first of all a transit country in this project, as the country has almost run out of own oil. The truth is, that the Krakow Summit ended with nothing, as the main potential supplier of the alternative "black gold" for Ukraine and possibly the Baltic countries wasn't present at the meeting. That time Nursultan Nazarbayev preferred meeting Vladimir Putin.
Judging from the commentaries of the Azeri press, Lavrov's visit to Baku was normal. The decision that parties arrived at were as follows; Baku decided not to send any diplomatic notes, Russia promised to assist in the issue of the energy supply. According to the political scientist Rasim Musabekov, both Russia and Azerbaijan are interested in the development of the political and financial relations. "But unfortunately in politic objective moments are not as common as subjective ones."
However regarding Azerbaijan and Russia there is the question of allotment of the Caspian, the relationship between Iran and the USA. Natural besides Armenia the RF wants to take control of Azerbaijan which has lately started to threaten the International Community with resolution of the Karabakh problem by use of force. Obviously Ilham Aliyev's announcements are of propagandistic nature; however for Moscow it is better to keep all the events of the region under control. This may be the reason why Russia is insisting on a veto in UNO regarding the Kosovo issue, for it is well aware that the domino effect in the Caucasus will work very fast. After all besides Karabakh and Abkhazia there is also the issue of Chechnya, which strives for independence by Kosovo example. In this matter Baku and Moscow are of the same opinion unfortunately.
However, Rasim Mussabekov considers that in spite of the fact that over the last several years some difficulties and misunderstandings occurred between the two countries, the parties tried to come to a mutual understanding. "In any case the relationship didn't change for the worse," said the political scientist.
