The presidential meeting in Kazan marked the end of the era of artificial optimism, an Armenian political analyst said.

“Preclusion of signing of any artificial document was a victory both of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Stepan Grigoryan, head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, told a press conference in Yerevan on June 27.

“The main obstacles to a peace agreement are the status of Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s demands of unilateral concessions on Armenia’s part and return of liberated lands,” he said.

According to Grigoryan, the risk of war after the Kazan talks has increased.

Despite optimistic forecasts and encouragement, the anticipated meeting ended in a statement saying that the heads of state “noted the reaching of mutual understanding on a number of questions, whose resolution helps create conditions to approve the basic principles."

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan praised the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries for their continuous attention to the problem and once again thanked Russian President for his personal endeavors to bring the positions of the conflicting sides closer.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has explained why no agreement was reached. “When addressing the PACE plenary meeting recently, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that progress may be registered during the Kazan meeting in case Azerbaijan doesn't put forth new proposals regarding the settlement. The June 24 meeting was not a breakthrough, as Azerbaijan proved unready to accept the final version of the basic principles suggested by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. Instead, the Azerbaijani leader attempted to impose 10 new proposals, thus precluding the possibility of any agreement on the issue. It's not for the first time that Azerbaijan prevents a possibility to reach an agreement. Nevertheless, we will continue talks, as there is no other way to resolve the Karabakh conflict,” he said.