ArmInfo. One should expect no economic benefits from the new Armenia-EU agreement, according to Tom de Waal, senior fellow with Carnegie Europe.
To note, on 7 Dec 2015 Armenia and EU launched negotiations to sign a comprehensive document on trade, investments and political cooperation. The previous talks had lasted for 3.5 years, but following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan unexpectedly announced on 3 Sept 2013 that Armenia was going to join the Customs Union.
Tom de Waal thinks that this is actually a political agreement, which may lead Armenia to the EU visa facilitation in the long-term outlook. He is convinced that Armenia's economic relations with the European Union will keep paling into insignificance amid the Armenian-Russian close economic and military- political ties.
As Voice of America reports, the expert is convinced that a new escalation in the Karabakh conflict zone will strengthen Moscow's influence on the region even more. He does not rule out the possibility that the current tension on the line of contact between the Artsakh and Azeri troops can result in large-scale hostilities this spring.
De Waal points out that diplomats warn the parties of the possible consequences and threats of a new phase of the conflict, however, no one is likely to stop the war if at least one of the parties wants to unleash military actions.