CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Seite 115

LILIT GALSTYAN
fl ict through the Russian lens, as Russia is an important external player
and stands behind various attempts and eff orts to provide a peaceful solu-
tion to the Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict. The cases of Boris Yeltsin, Vlad-
imir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev will be explored in order to compare
their actions towards the NK confl ict resolution.
The reason behind the analysis of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during
diff erent Russian presidencies is to compare the stance of Russia towards
the confl ict and to fi nd out the major changes occurred in Russia’s posi-
tion during the administrations of Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmit-
ry Medvedev. Furthermore, the paper will examine the theoretical notions
of “spoiling” and “mediation” within the context of international relations
in order to elucidate whether Russia was mediating the confl ict rationally
or was trying to spoil its peaceful resolution.
Setting the context
There is a signifi cant volume of literature covering the mediation mis-
sions of various international players by presenting, discussing and evalu-
ating their eff orts to end the NK confl ict. As such, in their books, the fi rst
Russian ambassador in independent Armenia, Vladimir Stupishin, and
the head of Russia’s mediation mission over the NK confl ict from 1992
to 1996, Vladimir Kazimirov, share their memories from Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh by focusing on the mediation of Russia in the settle-
ment of the confl ict. For instance, Vladimir Stupishin regards Armenia as
a Russian ally and displays a pro-Armenian position by underlining the
signifi cance of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence for Russian national
interests. 1 In his turn, Kazimirov blames the confl icting sides for the un-
resolved NK confl ict as despite various Russian suggestions on ceasefi re,
the sides continued violent military operations. 2
On the other hand, Sergey Markedonov who focuses on the region of
Caucasus and post-soviet confl icts asserts that unlike various other con-
fl icts in the Caucasus, in the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict, both
Yerevan and Baku value the role of Russia as a mediator. In addition, he
indicates that the Russian balance of support towards Armenia and Azer-
baijan leaves the Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict in the frozen format of ne-
gotiations and continuing violence. 3
1
2
3
Vladimir Stupishin, “Moya missiya v Armenii 1992-1994: Vospominaniya pervogo posla Ro-
sii,” (in Russian), [“My mission in Armenia, 1992-1994: Memories of the fi rst Russian am-
bassador,”] (Moscow, Academia, 2001), 27.
Vladimir Kazimirov, Peace to Karabakh, (Moscow: Ves Mir, 2014), 423, http://www.vn.kaz-
imirov.ru/mir2014.fi les/Peace_to_Karabakh_book.pdf (accessed February 10, 2017).
Sergey Markedonov, “Kavkaz-region povishennogo riska,” (in Russian), [“Caucasus-Region
of Increased Risk,”] (Moscow: Rossiyskiy Sovet po Mejdunarodnim Delam, 2016), 30.
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