Russia is not so active as it was before in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

The West, in turn, is more interested in enhancing its role in the region, Edgar Hovhannisyan, Director of the National Archive of Armenia, told journalists on Thursday.

In this context, he recalled the visits by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Eamon Gilmore, with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being the central issue.

Hovhannisyan does not think that the western diplomats avoided addressing messages to Azerbaijan thereby inciting it to further actions. In any case, the Armenian side must realize all of its commitments. “We must remember the main thing: they say there must be a peaceful settlement, devising means of punishment. They think they are making balanced statements. Far from being optimistic that the mechanism will ensure a settlement of the conflict, we must rely on ourselves,” he said.

Azerbaijan is not inclined to start a new war. “First, the war has not ended. Hostilities will not begin because it is not only battle readiness, but also geopolitical developments, that must considered,” he said.

With respect to Azerbaijan’s acts of sabotage, Hovhannisyan said: “They just wanted to show the regional security depended on their will. This is a means of selling itself to the West and getting concessions. The major concession is that the West should turn a blind eye to nepotism in Azerbaijan, and President Ilham Aliyev run for the third presidential term, which is considered undemocratic by the West.”

The Azeri president’s global task is to wait until his son Heydar comes of wage and hand the power over to him.

Azerbaijan is implementing an “oily policy” for the purpose of getting concessions from the West.

Azerbaijan has problems with all of its neighbors, Iran, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, as well as with Georgia because of territory, and with Turkmenistan because of the Caspian oil reserves. “To put it mildly, Azerbaijan is not on friendly terms with Russia as well,” he said.

The counterbalance to Azerbaijan’s arms aimed at Nagorno-Karabakh is an efficient army, correct foreign policy and respect for democratic standards.