James Warlick, former American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, referred to the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan meeting in Washington. He considered the final agreement between the parties unrealistic at this stage.
According to “Voice of America,” Warlick emphasized the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that without a settlement of the status issue, which will satisfy the parties, it is impossible to achieve lasting peace, “I am not talking about independence for Nagorno-Karabakh. I don’t think this issue is on the negotiation table, especially from Azerbaijan’s point of view. Still, there can be a certain degree of self-determination that would be acceptable to Baku.”
According to him, the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by Armenia has been a complicated issue until now, which means accepting that Nagorno-Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan. Today, Armenia is moving in that direction, and what kind of wording it will receive in the document still needs to be discovered, says the former ambassador. According to him, Baku must show that there will be a certain level of self-determination in Nagorno-Karabakh to make it acceptable for Armenia.
Warlick also considered the Lachin Corridor, which should connect Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, an important issue, “No one expects Nagorno-Karabakh and its de facto authorities to simply give up what they have fought for in recent decades. I think there should be some recognition that there is a community in Nagorno-Karabakh and that they should have a status that Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh agree to,” he said.
Another critical issue of the negotiation process, according to Warlick, is the issue of Russian peacekeepers, which is related to Russia’s involvement, “The Russian-brokered ceasefire cannot be ignored because it is the basis of where we are today. Is that the only basis, and does it give Moscow leadership or leverage in future negotiations? Of course no”:
