Forecast: In St. Petersburg, Ilham Aliev will have to circumscribe his readiness to serve Russia's geopolitical interests

Former foreign minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an independent analyst Arman Melikyan says at today's trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Azerbaijani, Russian presidents in St. Petersburg, Ilham Aliev will have to circumscribe his readiness to serve Russia's geopolitical interests.

Talking to ArmInfo, Melikyan said Vladimir Putin managed to demonstrate his control over the Armenian political elite and his ability to make it adopt decisions running contrary to the national interests of Armenia. "I think, it is Aliyev's turn now. And his stance will become clear at the St.  Petersburg meeting," the analyst said. 

Such state of affairs shows that Moscow does not seek to establish efficient mechanisms of investigating the incidents on the border, Melikyan said. Consequently, Russia may make the conflicting parties break the status quo so that it could maintain its relations with Armenia and improve the ones with Azerbaijan.  "The four-day war" was the bright example of this, Melikyan said.

"Paradoxical as it may seem, Russia has more expectations from the St. Petersburg meeting than Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia anticipates Aliyev to specify his approaches to the future of the Armenian- Azerbaijani relations," the analyst said.