Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved faster under Western leadership than under alleged Russian patronage – diplomat Yelchenko

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

The diplomat believes that it is quite possible for Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach an agreement with the help of Western mediators.

"Today, Azerbaijan relies on the support of Turkey and Israel, and it works. We have seen the success of the Azerbaijani army in the recent confrontations with Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. In my opinion, Mr. Pashinyan (Prime Minister of Armenia - ed.) should have realized that Russia is not an ally for Armenia. Azerbaijan has chosen the absolutely right line, and if Armenia joins this line, the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in the region as a whole, will be much closer than the peace that Russia imagines," the former Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN said.

Volodymyr Yelchenko reminded that the entire chain of conflicts on the borders of the former USSR was created in the days of Stalin. Accordingly, conflict issues were not resolved but suppressed by the Soviet authorities. However, everything came to the surface after 1991 (on December 25, 1991, the USSR ceased to exist as a sovereign state - ed.)

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian authorities used all these conflicts very cleverly to maintain tension on the borders, and then got into them and tried to allegedly resolve them, pretending to be a mediator or peacemaker, but in reality to keep the former Soviet republics under control. I believe that it is under the leadership of Western countries that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved much faster than under the alleged patronage of the Russian Federation," Yelchenko said.

• In early May, Azerbaijan and Armenia held 4-day talks in Washington under the auspices of Antony Blinken. According to the Secretary of State, significant progress was made.

• On May 9, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to hold several meetings with EU representatives to discuss a peaceful plan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

• On May 11, Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other of shelling on the border, at least 4 soldiers were wounded.