What can we expect from the Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting in Chisinau?

Baku/31.05.23/Turan: Only representatives of the West – the European Union and the United States express optimism on the eve of the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Chisinau within the framework of the summit of the European Political Community. 

Statements by the head of the Council of the European Union and the press Secretary of the State Department are confident that peace is near and quite possible. At the same time, the representative of the State Department made a sensational statement that the United States welcomes the readiness of Ilham Aliyev to grant amnesty to the Karabakh separatists.

Against this background, statements from Yerevan and Baku sound directly opposite to the optimism of Western partners. Yerevan repeats that there are red lines for it, and it will not cross them, and Baku declares that the Armenians have little time and must come to their senses.

It is difficult to assume that at the meeting in Chisinau, the leaders of Europe – Charles Michel, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz will be able to offer something that the parties will suddenly sign a document.

The last meeting of Aliyev and Pashinyan in Moscow showed how significant the contradictions are, despite the statements of the parties on the recognition of each other's territorial integrity. Even Pashinyan's sensational statement that Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan did not ease the tension. The skirmish between the two leaders in the presence of the President of Russia and the leaders of the Eurasec countries is a vivid evidence of this.

Most likely, the five-sided meeting will end with attempts by European leaders to convince the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that peace is beneficial to both countries and that the European Union is ready to support them economically.

All these opinions will probably be concentrated in the final statement on behalf of the participants of the meeting or Charles Michel himself, as was already the case at the Brussels meeting on May 14. ---02B---