Stepanakert participation in the negotiation process is necessary, said Valery Naumkin, Dartmouth Conference Co-chair on Nagorno Karabakh, Director of the Russian Center of Strategic and Political Studies.

"I would not like to criticize the Minsk Group. Our format doesn't replace the processes going on within the MG. These two formats are mutually complementary: if the Minsk group functions at the level of state diplomacy, the Dartmouth Conference organizes a dialogue at the level of civil publics. One more thing, Nagorno Karabakh is a party to Dartmouth conference and we suppose that there will be no progress in the talks without Stepanakert's participation. Actually, the opposition is going on between Azerbaijan and Karabakh," the Russian expert said. "Any agreement signed by the state leaders is put into practice by people living in those states and if the diplomats' groundwork doesn't justify people's expectations, it will never be successful."

"History knows many cases when agreements remained on paper. Presidential talks are insufficient. Our format aims at a public dialogue," Naumkin said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty Armenia.