Lavrov's visit: there is still time

These topics were discussed in both capitals of the still warring South Caucasian states. There were also themes of the release of prisoners of war and the transfer of minefield maps to Azerbaijan in the liberated territories, where more than a hundred civilians were blown up by mines, but they can be attributed to humanitarian issues of an accompanying nature.

In the morning on May 10, ten hours before Lavrov's arrival in Baku, President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Nakhichavan, where he got acquainted with the progress of the restoration of the local section of the Azerbaijan-Armenia-Nakhchivan road and railroad. Aliyev was informed about the completion of the construction of the new Ordubad-Julfa road and familiarized with the work on the restoration of the railway at the reconstructed Ordubad station. Thus, he clearly demonstrated to everyone the fulfillment of the obligations assumed under the agreement of November 10, 2020 in terms of opening communications.

Aliyev announced the intensification of work on the restoration of the railway to the Armenian border from the mainland of Azerbaijan.

To show his decisiveness to fulfill obligations on opening communications, Aliyev fired threats against Armenia in case if Armenia fells behind schedule. He also announced his full readiness to cooperate with Russia in the issue of restoring the Armenian section of the railway line, which belongs to the Russian Railways OJSC. It is not clear what he meant: funding or technical support. In the afternoon, returning to Baku, Aliyev spoke on the phone with President Putin about communications and the development of the peace process.

At a meeting with Lavrov, Aliyev stressed the fulfilling obligations on the transport component, noting safe pumping the Russian gas through Azerbaijan to Armenia, which resumed after the war. The second important issue on the agenda of Lavrov's visit was undoubtedly the further peace process, which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs urged to resume in a joint statement on April 14.

The main point of the peace process remains the status of Nagorno Karabakh, although no one, with the exception of Yerevan, speaks about it publicly. However, the fact that the peace process within the OSCE is accelerating, says the call of the US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken to Aliyev on April 28.

"The Secretary of State stressed the importance of continuing the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to negotiate a long-term political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for the benefit of all people in the region," the press statement said. In this regard, the positions of the United States, Russia and France are in harmony.

Although Aliyev tirelessly says that the status problem does not exist anymore, and there is nothing to talk about, however, at the meeting with Lavrov, and in his conversation with Blinkin, he was not so categorical, and in the public part of the meeting on May 10, he never mentioned status problems. Moreover, he expressed his readiness to negotiate for a lasting peace in the region. In reality, this means that the issue of status is on the agenda and Azerbaijan takes into account the opinion of the mediators on this issue in its Karabakh policy.

It can be regarded that the meeting between Aliyev and Lavrov resulted in statement by the Azerbaijani side that the implementation of the clauses of the November 10 agreement is proceeding strictly according to the schedule. The parties checked their watches - the hands of the dials move in a given direction and speed - the road is being built, the negotiation process is being developed.

When Aliyev had a conversation with Lavrov, the hands of his clock pointed to nine o'clock in the evening, but the course of the conversation and the subsequent joint press conference of Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Bayramov showed that there is still time to solve the problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia.