Another unprecedented circumstance is that this time co-chairmen were joined by high-ranking representatives of foreign policy structures of countries, involved in the mediatorial mission – Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin, US State Secretary’s assistant Daniel Fried and the political issues director of French Foreign Ministry Stanislas d’Labule.
Last year the co-chairmen were twice accompanied in regional visits by the former deputy foreign minister of Russia Vyacheslav Trubnikov. The stately delegation staff is first of all aimed at demonstrating seriousness of the peacemakers’ intensions. This can also be proved by the mediators’ announcements made after their meetings with Aliev and Kocharyan. “The joint mission is an extraordinary undertaking. It should be taken as an evidence of seriousness of our approach towards conflict regulation and of our common conviction that we are on a stage when mutually beneficial agreement is reachable”; it is said in two similar documents.
The third peculiarity of the visit is that this time co-chairmen limited themselves to visiting Baku and Yerevan and did not consider it expedient to get acquainted with the position of official Stepanakert. There would not be anything special here if not a singe detail: according to the Baku “Trend” information agency, before the start of negotiations with the Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mamedyarov, delegation members had a working meeting with the deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov. But for some reason the meeting was also participated by Nizami Bakhmanov who is called in Baku the “leader of Azeri community of Nagorno-Karabakh”. Did mediators know that Bakhmanov was going to wait for them in Azimov’s office or it was unexpected for them? Unfortunately journalists present at the briefing of mediators in Yerevan could not ask them about that.
The same source also reports about the existence of agreements concerning a number of meetings of the US State Secretary’s assistance Daniel Fried in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan. It may be assumed that the matter concerns separate meetings, without the participation of diplomats from Russia and France. What did Fried discuss with the representatives of Aliev’s administration? This question gaining special significance in the context of the quite noteworthy article in Baku published “Express” newspaper. Referring to informed sources in Washington, the author of the article asserts that “Pentagon has applied to the US Congress with a request to assign 43 million dollars for the reconstruction of four military aerodromes in Azerbaijan and creation of anti-missile defense and radio-electronic intelligence systems”. If it turns out that this sensational news has at least anything with reality it will become the first symptom testifying to the existence of certain principal agreements between George Bush and Ilham Aliev. It is worth reminding that late in April Ilham Aliev was “called” to Washington for discussing Azerbaijan’s position in case of military actions against Iran. If Aliev really promised Bush to provide military base for attacking Iran, it is clear that he will be counting on the White House’s “services” in Karabakh issue. In any case, the existence of agreements between Washington and Baku concerning Azerbaijan’s participation in anti-Iranian coalition will have a negative impact on the regulation process of Karabakh conflict. Nevertheless, it is still a big question – is it worth relying on the sources of “Express” newspaper? Though the sensational information published in the paper have not yet been denied by anyone.
