Putin emerges as peacemaker in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - Polidicks

[IMG]http://images.smh.com.au/2014/08/11/5668745/1407728325483.jpg-620x349.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Baku: Russian President Vladimir Putin, staring down the deepening unrest in Ukraine, tried the role of peacemaker by brokering the first meeting in nine months between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan following the deadliest clashes between the ex-Soviet republics in 20 years. The talks, which yielded little beyond a promise of more negotiations, showed Mr Putin playing statesman with a war raging next door in Ukraine, where he's faced accusations of stoking the conflict. Two days of meetings at his retreat in Sochi were marked by another fatality on the frontlines of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with an Azeri soldier killed late on August 9 by Armenian fire, according to the Defence Ministry in Baku. That brought the death toll to 24 since July 26. "No way do they need a war in Karabakh," Thomas de Waal, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said. "Russia has a strong incentive in preventing a new conflict, as it would cause massive instability in its southern tier. It also has treaty obligations to defend Armenia militarily and would therefore also destroy its carefully developed relationship with Azerbaijan." Failure to break the deadlock threatens to unleash war in a region where companies led by BP have invested more than $US40 billion to develop Azerbaijan's oil and gas fields. Russia's role in Ukraine is complicating an effort by Putin to assert his sway in the former Soviet Union, according to Matthew Bryza, the US ambassador to Azerbaijan in 2010-2011. The government in Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the unrest in eastern Ukraine. "Until President Putin reverses course in Ukraine, his efforts to reduce military tension in the South Caucasus will lack credibility," said Mr Bryza, who now heads the International Centre for Defence Studies, based in Tallinn, Estonia. The recent clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia are threatening to ignite another conflict on Russia's doorstep as the worst geopolitical standoff since the Cold War intensifies over Ukraine. Russia, which annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March, has demanded urgent humanitarian assistance to areas of eastern Ukraine engulfed by the insurgency as government troops press their offensive there. Russia, together with the US and France, has led international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Read more: [url]http://www.smh.com.au/world/vladimir-putin-the-peacemaker-emerges-in-nearby-nagornokarabakh-clash-20140811-102pvj.html#ixzz3A9OJ46pR[/url][/QUOTE]

After that it'll be back to dick waving to the West while flipping both birds again.

I can smell an evil plan already

[QUOTE=Sourceshift;45665849]I can smell an evil plan already[/QUOTE] Probably signed some secret pact to gang up on Georgia.

[QUOTE=Sourceshift;45665849]I can smell an evil plan already[/QUOTE] When reading about this conflict I couldn't help think that Putin was destabilising both countries to spark a war an enable him to go in and 'save the day'.

[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45280272]Putin's Peacekeepers Defenders of Dagestan Putin's Peacekeepers 2 Ossetian Observers Putin's Peacekeepers 3 Fall of the Facists[/QUOTE] Putin's Peacekeepers 4 Nagorno-Karabakh Negotiations

Putin's Peacekeepers 5: The Revenge of Putin's Peacekeepers

Putin's Peacekeepers 6: Bad Vlad Strikes Back

A true Statesman.

[t]http://images.smh.com.au/2014/08/11/5668745/1407728325483.jpg-620x349.jpg[/t] When photo tells more than the article itself

He's too focused on Ukraine at the moment. Probably doesn't want to handle too many land grabs at once, he'll save the Caucuses for later.

"Peacemaker" we all know he's going to side with the Armenians against Azerbaijan because of the CSTO.