The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the aggravation of interethnic problems in the country. This process was especially evident in the Caucasus. One of these points was the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijan SSR. Populated mainly by the Armenian population, this region, with the support of the Armenian SSR, began to actively advocate for changing the territorial boundaries of the union republics. The leaders of the Armenian movement insisted that they were implementing the Leninist principles of national politics based on self-determination. On the other hand, the government of the Azerbaijan SSR declared adherence to constitutional principles that did not allow such a solution to the problem. At this time, the central authorities refused to intervene in the brewing conflict, limiting themselves only to statements about the need to respect the rule of law. All this resulted in mutual pogroms on the territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan and led to the creation of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. At the same time, the process of democratization in the country led to the fact that problems in the field of ethnic relations were no longer hushed up and information about them began to be published in the press. The article attempts to analyze the position of the central government based on decisions and decrees of the central government. It is concluded that the measures taken to resolve the conflict were not enough, which eventually led to the First Karabakh War, which resulted in the indefinite status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which in turn ended in another military clashes in the fall of 2020, which significantly changed the balance of power in South Caucasus.