No need to have great expectations from Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting
Meetings and negotiations are much better than hostilities and military actions, says the head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun. Commenting on the recent trilateral meeting held between presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Secretary of State John Kerry, Armen Rustamyan said there is no need to have great expectations from the meeting as far as Azerbaijan does not agree upon one of the key issues. “It is not normal if you are involved in negotiations and are at the same time on the battlefield. Azerbaijan should realize that it should give up its approaches and respect Karabakh people's right to self-determination. All other problems start from here,” said Mr Rustamyan. After the meeting John Kerry expressed concerns over clashes on the Line of Contact and called on the sides to observe the ceasefire and take additional steps to prepare their publics for peace. Armen Rustamyan is convinced that Russia and the US sat at the negotiating table thanks to the efforts of Armenian soldiers who repulsed [with honour] the attacks of Azerbaijan. “We should rely solely on ourselves. If you want peace, you must prepare for war,” said the Dashnak MP. Khosrov Harutyunyan, a lawmaker of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) says the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders with John Kerry was productive. “This may be an exceptional case, when all parties involved in the conflict, with the exception of one side, agree that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. "This speaks to the fact that the United States will try and openly take the initiative in his hand. This is my opinion,” said Mr Harutyunyan. Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov welcomes the fact that the meeting once again stressed the importance of continuing negotiations within the Minsk Group format. “This was a clear message to the Azerbaijani side that the OSCE co-chairing countries, including the US, do not accept another option for the conflict settlement but a peaceful one.”
