The clashes between Russia and Georgia in August placed the region’s frozen conflicts, a legacy of the Soviet Union, under the spotlight.
Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia, while the negotiations to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the other frozen conflict, had intensified.
"There is a lot progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. There is a lot happening. I can't predict if or when we will succeed. But the presidents of both Armenia and Azerbaijan seem committed to try to reach a framework agreement now," said Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Bryza spoke to HotNewsTurkey ahead of a visit to Moscow the weekend where he will attended negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue hosted by Russia.
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders met in Moscow at the weekend and signed a declaration calling for a "peaceful resolution" to their dispute over the province of Nagorno-Karabakh on the basis of "binding international guarantees", taking a step further towards the resolution of the conflict.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan.
Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts, displacing 10 percent of the Azeri population in the series of bloody clashes both between and within the two neighboring countries.
Bryza, who is the American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group that acts as a mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the conflict, also said Turkey can play a huge role in facilitating a resolution, helping the mediation role by maintaining strong relations with Azerbaijan and normalizing relations with Armenia.
“The mediation structure is now working very well,” Bryza said, ruling out suggestions that the warmer relations between Ankara and Yerevan could lead to Turkey playing a mediator role in the process.
TENSION REMAINS HIGH
Although Bryza sounded optimistic on the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he cautioned that the tension in the Caucasus is far from being over.
He said there are signs coming from South Ossetia, especially the violence being carried out by gangs, and "there could be another miscalculation that leads to war," he added.
"We urge our Russian colleagues to do everything possible to behave responsibly... We underscore it is Russia's responsibility as an occupying power to ensure that human rights and the rule of law appeal itself in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia and it hasn't happened," he said.
He said Russia should allow humanitarian aid workers access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, adding it is violating its ceasefire commitments by failing to withdraw all of its troops to their original positions.
