October 18, 2010 - 12:12 AMT
Sergey Minasyan: no progress in Karabakh conflict expected before Astana OSCE Summit

The OSCE Minsk Group’s Field Assessment Mission was an attempt to maintain the Karabakh process, an Armenian expert said.

“The conflicting sides are not ready for compromise and the international community prefers not to press. The mediators may just make some proposals to keep up the pace of talks,” Sergey Minasyan told journalists on October 18.

“Extension of the Russian military base deployment in Armenia and the recent meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev brought some intrigue to the process, however, no progress is expected before the OSCE Summit in Astana,” he said.

Commenting on the report to be drawn upon outcomes of the mission, Minasyan said it will be similar to that of 2005 and will have no impact on the negotiation process.