Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Baku does not seek reconciliation with Armenia, but its capitulation

A year ago, optimists were predicting an early end to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, but today, Baku and Yerevan still seem far from establishing actual peace. To this day, they perceive each other as enemies who do nothing but plan various intrigues, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

Until September 2023, the existence of the Republic of Artsakh was considered the main hindrance to settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Now it does not exist, but the mutual mistrust still exists. Guided by this feeling, Baku strives not for reconciliation with the enemy, but for his capitulation, regularly noting that the one that lost must fulfill the will of the winner. At the same time, the Azerbaijani side needs a guarantee that the Armenians will never be able to take revenge. Yerevan, on the contrary, does not want to be at the mercy of those who call half of Armenia “Western Azerbaijan”, suspecting Baku of aggressive intentions.

International mediators can help Armenians and Azerbaijanis agree. But today there is no such country that is equally trusted by the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan. They have certain complaints from Russia, Iran, the U.S., France and Turkey. Recently, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazakhstan, who has extensive diplomatic experience, has started to show activity. Nevertheless, despite his ability to negotiate, Tokayev has no real leverage over the region.