The remaining issues are border demarcation between the two former Soviet countries. As well as the issue of re-establishing a trade and transit corridor via Armenia between the rest of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave.

Georgia has effectively abandoned its efforts to advance on the membership issue. True, the work on cooperation and various partnership packages, in itself important, continues. But the membership issue itself has been put on the back burner.

With over 90 percent of the vote counted, the 46-year-old journalist and writer’s Civil Contract party held an insurmountable lead of 54-21 percent over the “Armenia” bloc headed by 67-year-old ex-President Robert Kocharyan – a far more overwhelming result than expected.

There are enormous ramifications. There is a real chance no effective or, at best, a weak government could emerge. Though Azerbaijan got back most of its occupied territories, the formal delimitation of the border with Armenia would take a solid government in Yerevan with a mandate to do so. It might be impossible to put a finality to the 30-year war or open trade routes in the absence of one

Ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia – both dealing with the occupation of large tracts of territory by Russia or its proxies – likely came away disappointed if they had expected the summit to bring clarity to their strategic issues.

Any resumption of hostilities would likely involve the few areas of internationally recognised Azerbaijan still under de facto Armenian control or border areas.

The IMF agreed a $5 billion standby arrangement with Kyiv a year ago and quickly disbursed $2.1 billion, but subsequent tranches have been withheld.

It was clear during the six-week onslaught by Baku last year that Moscow was no longer unilaterally calling the shots. And it demonstrated how NATO member Ankara’s 25-year effort to help Azerbaijan build its army from the ground up effectively was successful.

Mine contamination in the Karabakh region significantly affects the reconstruction process as well as killing civilians and servicemen. Azerbaijan has already started demining operations in the liberated areas using modern mine clearance techniques and technologies.