AIR Center advisor Roza Bayramli’s article titled “Armenian authorities' policy delays peace in the South Caucasus” has been published on the “Vestnik Kavkaza” website.
The author provides a comprehensive analysis on Armenia’s statements regarding the freezing of its activities in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), its attempts to fill the political vacuum left by Russia with the West, as well as on official Baku’s stance on Irevan’s policies undermining peace in the region.
Touching on the Armenia-CSTO relations, R. Bayramli says that in an interview with France24, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his country had de facto frozen its participation in the organization.
“Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to Pashinyan’s statement, saying that the Armenian side had not taken any official steps in that regard. The Prime Minister says that he has never sought to involve the CSTO in a military conflict. He only intended to achieve a “firm political position” in the entity. However, the Prime Minister remains silent about the fact that CSTO could not interfere, because Armenia’s sovereign borders were not violated.”
Commenting on the bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia, R. Bayramli notes that Moscow has openly stated that Irevan’s detrimental steps, harming the spirit of ties, were of great concern.
“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that some forces are purposefully trying to push Russia out of the South Caucasus region. However, the Armenian authorities try to portray the events like Russia itself wants to pull away from the region.”
According to R. Bayramli, against the backdrop of all this, Armenia is deepening its cooperation with the West.
“During Pashinyan’s visit to France, an agreement was reached between the French intelligence service and the Armenian intelligence agency on the exchange of data on four countries-Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey and Russia.”
R.Bayramli also drew attention to Armenia’s maneuvering between geopolitical centers. She noted that on one hand, Speaker of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonian suggests an EU membership bid; on the other hand, deputy speaker Ruben Rubinyan says that the country has no intention of leaving the Eurasian Economic Union.
“A peace treaty is out of France’s interests. Paris’s goal is to replace the Russian military base in Armenia with a French military base. France does not conceal its attempts to pursue a neocolonial policy in the South Caucasus.”
In the end, the author emphasized that chances for lasting peace in the region are threatened by Armenia’s recent steps. Armenia should give up its policy aimed at destabilization and refrain from involving outside actors in regional affairs.
