Ednews presents a written interview with the well-known Russian politician Sergey Stankevich based on political agenda topics. 

- The Russian peacekeeping military contingent temporarily stationed in Karabakh has started to leave the region. What can the withdrawal of Russian troops change in the region? 

- The Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in November 2020 to monitor emergency situations in the Karabakh region. Then, in a joint statement, the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia agreed on a peacekeeping mission for 5 years. About two thousand military personnel of the Russian Federation acted seriously in the framework of what is called an "observation mission" according to UN standards. The main condition of such missions is the full consent of the parties to the conflict that ceases combat operations. Under no circumstances can peacekeepers enter a war on one of the sides. In the specific situation in the South Caucasus, it could lead to a big regional war that would put the fate of millions of people and even individual states into question. The peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation fulfilled two main tasks - to create favorable conditions for a diplomatic end to the conflict and, if possible, to limit the damage to the civilian population.

Currently, Azerbaijan and Armenia are close to signing the peace and border agreement and are solving the problems of wide normalization of relations. In such cases, as the movie series says, "mission accomplished, time to go home." The withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent from the territory of Azerbaijan must be completed in ethically perfect conditions. Including, unfortunately, we will not forget the six servicemen of the Russian Federation who died in the line of duty.

- How will the withdrawal of peacekeepers from Karabakh affect Azerbaijan-Russia relations?

- Azerbaijan-Russia relations are now on the rise. This is largely facilitated by the long tradition of alliance between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Russia and the exhaustion of the painful historical conflict over treaty obligations. We see the melting of the previous ice of doubt. Paradoxically, clumsy attempts of "players" far from the Caucasus region to inflame conflict, play on contradictions, and keep "client" political teams from participating in future conflict scenarios have the opposite effect. Now normalization, which is the key word for the South Caucasus, is only getting stronger. I think that soon it will be possible to talk about a new era of peace and development in the history of the South Caucasus. Perhaps this is the most striking diplomatic confirmation of this perspective. The visit of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Moscow and some plots related to this visit are already in the style of the new era. Soon, I would like to see the Armenian head of government's visit to Russia close in terms of content and style. This will completely remove any shadow of doubt that the choice in favor of an era of peace and prosperity is general and definitive.

- Could World War III begin? We'd love to hear your thoughts on this…

- There will be no World War III, although it is already underway. We have already been involved in war with the direct or indirect participation of dozens of states in at least four regions of the world (the Balkans, Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia). But this is the early stage of the war in the form of a series of local conflicts that a large and destructive fire could still prevent. Nothing irreversible has yet been done in the way of a full-scale World War III. It is necessary to turn off the most dangerous furnaces and not open new ones.

Interviewer: Khayal Ramiz