Tension on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. Which side wants to disrupt the peace talks?

Baku/11.05.23/Turan: In the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces from positions in the Zod direction of the Basarkechyar  region  shelled  the opposing positions of the Azerbaijani Army from various types of small arms, deliberately committing a provocation, the information of the Ministry of Defense.

As a result of targeted fire from the enemy, Mahmudlu Muslim Vidadi oglu, a soldier of the long-term active military service of the Azerbaijani Army, was seriously wounded in the head.  He was immediately taken to a military medical facility. The units of the Azerbaijani Army have taken the necessary retaliatory measures.

Since the morning of May 11, the Armenian armed forces, further escalating the situation, have been firing mortars at the positions of the Azerbaijani Army from positions in the Zod direction of Basarkechyar  region. The units of the Azerbaijani Army are taking the necessary retaliatory measures.

According to the Armenian side, 4 Armenian soldiers were injured.

Who is aggravating the situation on the eve of the intensification of peace talks?

Political commentator Ilham Ismail answers these and other questions in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, for 6 months, since October 31 last year, official negotiations have been suspended. "Last year we witnessed the success of the Brussels format when a series of meetings were held. The last time, after the August meetings in 2022 of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, there was a glimmer of hope that the signing of a peace agreement by the end of the year was real. But the provocation that took place on September 13-14 on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, accompanied by heavy losses, dispelled this hope," Ilham Ismail said.

According to the expert, later, on October 6, the meeting between President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan looked more productive. However, the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27 at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club pushed Armenia to put forward new conditions.

"One of these conditions was the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron in the Azerbaijani-Armenian high-level talks scheduled for December 7, which Azerbaijan had previously refused," Ilham Ismail recalled.

Referring to the talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries held recently in Washington on the initiative of the United States, the expert drew attention to the fact that when the meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan takes place in the West, the Kremlin urgently appoints the next meeting on the Russian platform.

"A meeting of the leaders of the two countries is expected in Brussels on May 14. And there is a feeling that some kind of provocation will certainly happen, something negative will definitely happen to overshadow the Brussels meeting. Nikol Pashinyan, who confirmed his readiness to meet with Ilham Aliyev at a government meeting on Thursday, said that the probability of signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in Brussels is "very small".

"Unfortunately, such an opportunity is very small, since the draft bilateral agreement on peace and the establishment of interstate relations has a very preliminary form and it is very early to talk about signing it. On the other hand, the task is to bring this document to maturity as quickly as possible and prepare it for signing," Pashinyan said.

"Obviously, this position of Pashinyan is connected with the provocation that began on the border the day before. This provocation is both diplomatic and military - two in one!", Ilham Ismail is sure.--0--