CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 128

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA
It is important to state that, during the April uprisings, Russia was ac-
tively engaged in stopping the further developments of the April war. As
follows, on April 2, Putin called the sides for stabilizing the situation and
restoring the ceasefi re. Even though the ceasefi re violations did not stop,
on 5 April, due to Putin’s eff orts, the Armenian and the Azerbaijani chiefs
of staff agreed to fi nish the fi ghting. Hence, Vladimir Putin highlighted
the signifi cance of the Russian mediation mission by initiating the second
ceasefi re during the April violations. 61
What is more, in June 2016, Putin organized a trilateral presidential
meeting in Saint Petersburg in order to maintain the dialogue between
the confl icting parties and to strengthen the termination of hostilities. 62
In addition, on 10 August 2016, in a joint press conference with Serzh
Sargsyan, Vladimir Putin summarized the stance of Russia over NK,
“Russia is interested in decreasing the tensions between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Armenia is looking for a way out of this confl ict for the sake
of its economic development. Azerbaijan seeks the same goals. Howev-
er, it is necessary to fi nd the appropriate approach to make sure that nei-
ther side feel themselves to be either ‘losers’ or ‘winners’.” 63 Hence, by
this statement Putin supports the Russian “balanced relations with Arme-
nia and Azerbaijan” doctrine by trying to reach towards a solution that
will not harm any of the sides. Nonetheless, it is important to mention
that when compared to Dmitry Medvedev, during his second presiden-
tial term, Vladimir Putin had taken a more neutral position towards the
Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict resolution. The April War was a signal that
throughout time, the Russian mediation mission over Nagorno-Karabakh
needed a push factor for taking the matters more seriously.
3. Analysis and Findings
With an aim to understand whether Russia mediated the confl ict over
NK or spoiled its peaceful resolution, it is important to understand the
theoretical notions of “spoiling” and “mediation.” On this subject, “spoil-
ers” have a primary objective to hinder or extend the peaceful resolu-
tion of confl icts for the sake of their interests and desires. Accordingly,
61
62
63
International Crisis Group. “Nagorno-Karabakh: New Opening or More Peril?” Europe Re-
port, issue No. 239(4 July 2016): 3.
“Trilateral presidential meeting ends in Saint Petersburg: Presidents issue joint statement,”
A1+, 20 June 2016, http://en.a1plus.am/1239134.html (accessed March 5, 2017).
Vladimir Putin, “Putin: If the Karabakh problem is not solved, Armenia will not have
a chance to develop,” MeydanTv, 11 August 2016,https://www.meydan.tv/en/site/poli-
tics/16619/(accessed March 10, 2017).
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