Political analysts: Gadrut incident not to affect relations between Moscow and Baku

An attempt to expand the zone of the peacekeepers' responsibility to the Gadrut District did not lead to deterioration in relations between Moscow and Baku, political analyst Igor Korotchenko and Caucasian expert Vladimir Sotnikov believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 11-12, in the Gadrut District, the first violation of the ceasefire was registered in the area of the villages of Khtsaberd and Khin Takher (the Azerbaijani names are Chailakkala and Kyokhne Taglar, respectively, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") in the Gadrut District. The Russian peacekeepers helped the Armenian military personnel to get out of the encirclement, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported.

The actions of the Russian peacekeepers were adequate to the situation and did not worsen the relations between Moscow and Baku, believes Caucasian expert Vladimir Sotnikov. "I believe that Russia has very good relations with Baku now, and there are agreements with Yerevan too," the expert concluded.

Vladimir Sotnikov also mentioned that the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh did not participate in the agreement, which complicates the settlement of the conflict and can lead to new incidents.

What has happened means "tactical moments that do not affect the basic principles" of the peacekeeping contingent and the relationship between Russia and Azerbaijan, suggests political analyst Igor Korotchenko. He believes that even deliberate attempts to use the above incident to provoke deterioration in relations between Moscow and Baku have no prospects.