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“The trilateral meeting over Karabakh held in Saint Petersburg was mainly organized to meet Moscow’s or the Kremlin’s political ambitions,” Styopa Safaryan, political scientist, founder of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs (AIISA) told reporters at a press conference.

Safaryan dismissed the idea of considering the summit as negotiations as those are conducted with states which are committed to taken obligations.

“The meeting showed that Russian president managed to legitimize the trilateral meetings conducted under his patronage.  We should accept with regret that we are back to the year 2008 when the trilateral format was established,” Safaryan noted.

According to the speaker, Russia and other Co-chairing states gained from the meeting more than the conflicting sides themselves. “Russia sought to emphasize its exclusive role in the conflict. One aspect satisfying the Armenian side was that the Vienna agenda was acknowledged as dominant.”

Safaryan next expressed confidence he lacked any expectation to see NKR representative at the meetings organized by the Russian president. “Yerevan should insist on its own demand since no resolution to the conflict is feasible without Nagorno Karabakh Republic participation,” concluded the speaker.